Chapter 1
"Mister Grayson? Am I boring you?" our math teacher questions. There is a sudden commotion in the back corner of the room. Richard Grayson jumps out of his chair and strikes what I think is an attack pose. While the whole class bursts out laughing, I study his reaction. This is not the usual reaction that you see when you startle someone awake. I shake myself of these thoughts, he probably was having a nightmare, like I do.
"Mister Grayson, take off the sunglasses and return to your seat. I have a class to finish teaching. School's not over yet." Richard's face turns a scarlet red, but other than the obvious, his face remains emotionless, and he returns to his seat, but he does not remove the sunglasses. I turn my head away from Richard and look to my math teacher. I wait for her to continue her lessons about reviewing the uses of a calculator. This is the fourth day that we have had to "review" the calculator's buttons. Before she can open her mouth, the bell rings with a shrill scream. The class collectively rushes out of the room. I wait in my desk for the majority of the kids to leave, so I will not be trampled. I use the time to organize the various handouts that our teacher gave us in my binder.
"You didn't laugh at me." Was that Richard's voice? It was. He could not have been speaking to me. I ignore the voice. I hear the voice again, "excuse me, I'm talking to you." Once again, I ignore the voice. Then, I feel a light tap on my shoulder. My instincts take over and I form a fist in my right hand and swing around to punch the enemy. I do not feel my fist collide with anything, instead, I feel a warm hand wrap around my wrist. I recoil from the touch as fast as I possibly can, grab my things and run from the classroom. I ignore the protests of my teacher. I do not look back at Richard. I make my way to my locker quickly and efficiently. I need to get out of here. Everything is going smoothly, until I reach my locker.
"Kory." My body stiffens. Not today. I could take this any day, but today. I take a deep breath in an attempt to collect myself. I turn around cautiously.
"Hello, Xavier. Is there anything that I can help you with? Although, I really do have to get home soon because I have to babysit my brother today…" I ramble. I hope that he cannot tell that I am in a rush. I just need to get out of this place.
"Well, Cutie, that means we could have your house all to ourselves, and I know that you want that." He takes a step closer to me, and I try to push myself into the lockers behind me. Once he reaches out to touch me, I put my hands on his chest, the books that I was stuffing in my backpack all but forgotten on the floor. I try to push him away, but he is stronger than me.
"Stop, Xavier. I truly do not want to deal with your pointless antics today." I pray to X'hal that I can control my temper before things get out of hand. Before I can lift my leg up to kick Xavier, one of his friends calls out to him, saving me a trip to the principal's office, and a suspension.
He lowers his voice to a low whisper and says, "this isn't over, Cutie. In the end, I will get you, and there will be nothing that you can do about it, Princess." His threat makes my blood turn cold. I have been threatened before when I was captured, but never in Gotham City, not where I am supposed to be safe.
He leans in to plant a kiss on my lips, and I close my eyes to try and hide from the world. His lips land on my cheek instead. I let out a breath that I did not know that I was holding. Once he leaves, I rush to stuff all of my supplies into my backpack. I run through the hallways of my school until I reach the exit door. I burst through the doors and I begin the walk back to my house. We live in close proximity to the school. It was one of the reasons that Galfore chose to buy the house.
Galfore is a close family friend, and my adoptive father, I suppose. He took my brother and me in when our parents were killed in our home country of Tamaran. My sister joined the people who killed our parents, the Citadel, a rogue group of people from Tamaran. My brother and I were captured by the Citadel. Ryan was just a baby when all of this occurred, but I was at least ten years old. I traded my childhood for training. Galfore rescued us, orders from my father, the king. My instincts have not left me, and I am still a soldier a heart. It is one of the many things that I wish I could abandon. Six years of torture has not been kind to me. As long as Ryan can remain as innocent as he can with all that has happened, all of my work will have been worth it.
Once I reach my house, I set my things down by the dining room table. I then run around the house, making sure to lock all of the doors and windows. I do not want Xavier to come near me or Ryan. Once Galfore returns home, I need to inform him of my new discoveries.
"Kory! Kory! Kory, you're home! I had the best time in school today, and I made a new friend! His name is Tim. Kory?" I look at the last window that I need to lock, making sure that I locked it.
"What did you say, Ryan? I am sorry, I was distracted." I tear my attention away from the windows and look at my brother. He is practically a copy of myself. We both have deep emerald eyes and dark red hair, although his is curly and mine is straight. Of course, we both inherited a healthy tan, a trait of the Tamaranean people.
"Kory, are you okay? You look sad." His face contorts into one of worry, and I instantly feel horrible.
"Oh, Ryan, I did not mean to make you feel bad. I just had a hard day at school. My teachers gave me a lot of homework," I end with a smile. I ruffle his hair. "So what is this I hear about you making a new friend?"
His face immediately lights up at the mention of his new friend, and all of my worries start to disappear. He takes a deep breath and starts to explain his school day, "well, I saw that Tim was all alone at lunch because he was new. The kids at my table didn't mind, and I sat next to him. He has one brother, but I forgot his name, and he's really cool. Can we have a playdate sometime?" he pleads.
"Ryan, you know that we must ask Galfore before you can have anyone over, or before you go anywhere, but I will ask him when he gets home." His face lights up. He runs over and hugs me.
"Thank you, Kory! You're the best sister ever!"
"You are welcome. Now, let us do our homework, yes?" Ryan and I sit down at the table and we get out our homework. Just as we begin to start on it, I hear a knock at the door. No one ever comes to this house, other than Galfore, Ryan, and myself. Galfore always has a key with him. I make sure that Ryan is on his way to his room before I walk over to the door. I check the knife that I keep with me at all times, and I unlock it. I look through the small glass hole in the door to see a figure in a black hoodie and sunglasses. The figure somewhat resembles Xavier. I look down at my combat boots and I try to visualize my knife through my jeans. I put my house key in my pocket. I take a second to gather my confidence and I open the door, lock the bottom lock, step out, and close the door as quickly as I can manage. I look around the small neighborhood to see that no one else is outside, and I force my best formal smile and ask, "hello, how may I help you?"
The figure moves toward me, and once again, my instincts take over, and before I know what I am doing, I have pinned the figure to the ground with its back to the sky without much struggle. I hear a small grunt of protest.
"I swear that if you are Xavier, I will make you regret everything that you have ever done or said, and if you come near my brother I will kill you without hesitation. Do I make myself clear?" I hear a grunt and I proceed, "now, identify yourself."
"Damn, Kory," the voice comes out in muffled tones, "I never knew you had that in you. I'll never come close to you again," a memory of my sister briefly flashes, "I just wanted to talk to you."
"Identify yourself," I command, and I twist the male's wrists for good measure.
"Ah! It's me, Kory," and there is another groan muffled into the pavement, "it's Dick. Grayson. Dick Grayson." My assumptions about the figure being Xavier were incorrect, but I still need to know why Richard followed me home. I proceed to question him further.
"Why did you follow me home? Could this conversation not wait until school to be had?"
"Kory, if you just let me up, then I can explain why I'm here." I internally debate with myself for a brief moment. I do a mental survey of my house for security and decide that ultimately, Ryan will be safe. I cautiously ease off of Richard and release him from the pin that I had held him in. He grabs his sunglasses and slides them back onto his face before he gets up. I have never seen his eyes. He lets out a small sigh and rubs his wrists.
"Explain."
"Great, now I'm going to have bruises on my wrists, and I'm going to have to wear sleeves in the middle of spring. Right, explaining my stalker behavior. I have the right to know why you tried to punch me! You ran off before I could find you, so I followed you. That's not weird. Now you explain why you practically tried to kill me."
I lean down to my right boot and slide the switch on my knife to a locked position, and I can feel Richard's eyes on me the entire way. I do not want to answer Richard's question, so I settle for half-truths and I answer, "you touched me. I do not enjoy physical contact with other entities of the homo sapiens species. You are dressed in all black attire to cover up your identity, and this is a small neighborhood. This city is known for its assaults. I had every right to assume the worst." I look up to see a small trail of blood falling down Richard's forehead. "I apologize for injuring you. I was simply being cautious, I had no intentions of inflicting harm upon you. Let us go inside so I may dress your wounds. It is the least that I can do after what I have done to you."
At this, Richard reaches up to touch where my eyes were moments ago. He lays his index finger directly on top of the small laceration, and slightly winces. He brings his hand down to his jeans and wipes the blood off of his finger. "Uh, yeah. I mean, sure. That'd be nice."
I take my key out of my pocket, and Richard raises his uninjured eyebrow in a questioning manor, "you have this down to a science, don't you?" I ignore his comment and open the door, let Richard in, and then, I lock the door behind me. I do not see Ryan upon first glance, which means that he has followed my instructions. I call out to him until I hear a small squeak beside me at the window directly behind the porch. I bend down meet him at his eye level. I place both of his hands in mine.
I bring my voice to a soft whisper, "Ryan, you know when there is someone at the door that we do not know, that we go to our rooms, lock our doors, turn off the lights, and hide in the closets, yes?"
"I know Kory, but I just wanted to watch. I've never met a stranger before." He looks at Richard.
"This is not a stranger. This is Richard." What do I address Richard as? We are classmates, but nothing more. For Ryan's sake, I will call him a friend. "Richard is a friend from school." I hear Richard mumble under his breath at the mention of being friends.
"Then why did you hurt him?" My heart feels like it has stopped beating. For six years I have raised Ryan, and I do not want him to think of me as he does my sister.
"It was an accident. I did not know that Richard was going to come over today, and he was not dressed like he normally is, so I had to treat him like Galfore told me to," I look down and pause before continuing, "I did not want you to get hurt." I try to smile and blink away the tears forming in my eyes. Ryan jumps into my arms and pulls me into a tight hug, and I hug him back just as tightly. I lift him up and I put him on my waist. I pull back a little to look at my brother. "Now, do you want to help me fix Richard?"
He nods with a bright smile and turns to Richard's confused expression. He studies him like a new toy and sticks his tiny hand out, "hi, Richard. I'm Ryan, Kory's brother." Richard, amused, shakes Ryan's hand and smiles.
"Come on, Kory! Let's fix Richard! I'll race you to the bathroom." He jumps down from my arms, and I laugh.
"How long do you think it'll take him to notice that he needs me, to fix me?"
"Not very-" I begin to say, but I am cut off by Ryan's shout of our names. I shout back, "we will be right there! I just have to speak with Richard, first!"
I turn to Richard and open my mouth to speak, but he beats me to it, "I know, hurt him and die. Now lead the way." I nod and trace the path that Ryan had just ran. The walk over is silent, until we reach the bathroom and Ryan jumps out and starts to drag Richard in by the hand. He looks at me, and we both share a quiet smile.
"Ryan, do you remember how I taught you to treat cuts?" He nods. "Then give the orders Doctor Ryan," and I mock salute him.
"Nurse Kory, I need a towel and a towel with soapy water. Oh, and I need the sticky pictures and the slimy stuff with a cotton swab, you can put those on."
"Yes, sir," and I begin to gather the supplies. I take care of the two towels and the antiseptic, and I find Batman bandages and smirk. "I have the supplies, Doctor," and I whisper, "you must not forget to tell Richard what you are going to do." He nods, and turns to Richard.
"Okay, Patient Richard, I'm Doctor Ryan and I'll be fixing you today," he points to me, "and this is Nurse Kory. First, I'm going to wash your cut with the soapy towel, and then the clean towel with clean water, but you have to sit down over there," he points to the edge of the bathtub. Richard, to his credit, does as he is told.
"I need to take off your sunglasses so I can clean your cut," Ryan says. He starts to reach for them, to take them off, but Richard grabs his hands gently and sets them back down. He looks to the ground, as if he is debating with himself, and then he looks back up at Ryan.
"I need these to stay on, Ryan. Will you do that for me?" he asks softly, as though he might wake a baby if he were to speak any louder. Ryan, sensing that this is a fragile subject gently cleans Richard's wound, washing out any debris from the concrete, and then cleans the soapy water out with the wet part of the clean towel. Then, he pats the cut dry with the remainder of the clean towel. "Now, Nurse Kory will put the slimy stuff on and the sticky pictures." He hugs Richard and tells him goodbye, and that he has to finish his homework. He also adds that Richard should be a good boy. Richard and I both laugh at that.
Richard stands up, and I push on his shoulders to make him sit back down. I close the bathroom door. "Thank you for letting Ryan play doctor. That is what he wants to be when he grows up, so I have been teaching him. Now, I just have to put the antiseptic on and bandage you." He raises his eyebrow. "I do not want to disappoint Ryan." I grab the cotton swab and apply a small amount of the antiseptic to the tip of it and gently apply it to Richard's wound. He winces.
"I am sorry for all of the pain that I have caused you today. They were involuntary reactions in accordance to past events." I pull out the bandages. I hear Richard groan.
"Do I have to wear that? Everyone will laugh at me at school." I smile.
"You do not want to disappoint Ryan, yes?" He sighs and nods. "Then I suggest that you wear this until you leave. You may remove it at a later time this evening, so that you do not have to wear it to school."
"Fine," he grumbles. I take out a bandage, and I apply it to the wound.
"There, you are all done. You may leave now, Patient Richard." He stands up.
"Why thank you, Nurse Kory. You're a good sister." I smile. "Will you see me out of your lovely hospital?" He gestures to the bathroom. I laugh.
"Of course. Follow me." He does follow me out of the house, and we reach the door before we speak again.
"You know, Kory? You aren't as bad as everyone says you are. You're a lot better once I get to know you."
"Thank you, Richard. I do appreciate that." I give him a smile and a small wave as he leaves.
"See you at school, Kory, but this interaction," he gestures to the both of us, "never happened. It'll be our little secret." I frown, and sigh. My eyes drift to the ground. If he does not want to be associated with me, that is okay. There will be no harm done to Ryan.
"Goodbye, Richard." Once he leaves, I lock up the house, again, and try to solve the enigma that is Richard Grayson.
"And you are sure that he is a part of the Citadel?" Galfore whispers back. We are in the living room, discussing today's events. I had to wait until Ryan was asleep before I could talk to Galfore.
"He called me Princess, Galfore. Only the people of Tamaran, the Citadel, you, and I know of that secret. I could tell that he meant it." I fear that Xavier may be a part of the Citadel.
"Well," Galfore sighs, "if you truly believe this, you must give me his name, and I will consult with my associate here. I do not want either of you to get hurt."
"His name is Xavier Redd." I almost mention Richard, but somehow I do not think that he has had anything to do with Xavier's threat today. I promise myself that if another altercation happens between us, then I will mention him to Galfore. I do not think to question Galfore who his associate is. I have before, and that is one of the few times that I have seen him angry, and I do not wish for it to happen again.
Galfore and I bid each other goodnight, and we head to our respective rooms. Before I enter my room, I check on Ryan, and I thank X'hal for every second that I have to spend with my baby brother.
Author's Note: 22 January 2014
I promise that I'm not giving up on Shattered, I just needed to take a break from that universe. Writer's block is not fun, especially when you have a ton of ideas floating in your head. I still can't promise times on updates, but I will finish this (and Shattered). Oh, and if you would like to beta for any of my stories, that would be greatly appreciated. If you're up for the job, just shoot me a PM. Please review! Constructive criticism is welcomed and greatly appreciated. Well, I've taken up enough of your time, so thanks for reading, and hopefully, see you soon!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or anything Teen Titans affiliated. However, I do own the story plot and my ideas.
