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.


Chapter One: New Beginning

Two years later...

Sitting out on her balcony, Kori took in the beauty of Gotham. She was memorizing all the different colored lights of Downtown, watching all the swift movements of the people rushing around trying to get where they were going. She began to brush different colored paints on to her canvas, trying to recapture the busy life of Gotham through her eyes.

She went to dip her brush into new paint when she was disrupted from her process by the sound of the phone ringing. She set down her brush, rolling her eyes, and made her way back into her apartment.

"I hear you ringing, but I cannot seem to find you!" she exclaimed, throwing her throw pillows off the couch, rummaging through the cushions. Digging her arm deep inside the couch under the last cushion, she pulled out her phone, a look of triumph on her face.

"Hello?" she asked, accepting the phone call from her friend Victor. She blew a strand of hair out of her eye, as she sat down on her recliner. She couldn't help but to smile when she heard her friend – more like her big brother – exclaim into the phone, "Hey lil' lady!"

She giggled, "Yes, Vic?"

"We were all going to go to Ruby Sanctum tonight. That creepy club Rachel likes to go to, are you wanting to go?"

Kori felt the discomfort instantly, "I… I don't know Vic. Clubs really aren't my… thing." She laid her head back against the recliner, preparing herself for the instant begging for her to go. She knew she'd have to give in, even though she really didn't want to.

"Oh come on, you never go out with us to any clubs. It'll be fun. Don't make me go over there and kidnap you."

She fought back a laugh, "I just don't see the point, but alright, alright. I'll go, but I can't promise to be there long."

She heard some shouting, something among the lines of "Gar—What're you—STOP. Don't beat my high score you little punk!" She rolled her eyes at her immature friends and smiled, waiting for Victor to return to the conversation.

"Sorry, Kor. But thank you. Do you want me to pick you up, or are you going to drive?"

Kori thought for a moment, looking at an ad for a cab service that was on her coffee table. "I'll probably just take a cab, actually." After a few minutes of talking to somewhat catch up, and discussing the club situation, she said her goodbyes on the phone and hung up.

She stared up at the ceiling, dreading the idea of trying to find something club appropriate to wear. She walked back out onto her balcony and began to paint again.


It was 11 o'clock, and Kori paid the cab fare and left him a decent tip as well. She got out of the cab, and stared at the line, somewhat thankful that she just had to tell the bouncer she was there under Victor Stones group.

She shivered in the night air as she made her way to the bouncer, tugging her dress down as she felt violated, knowing a lot of eyes were on her. She wore a dark purple mini sheath dress, which hugged her curves in all the right places. Out of all her clothes, she felt that was the only club appropriate outfit she owned, and though she knew she looked good in it, she still felt extremely uncomfortable wearing it.

It took her hours to scrub off all the paint that covered her hands, and wash out the paint that got into some of her strands of hair. Everyone loved her art, how neat it always was, but every piece she ever finished, she always finished looking like she rolled in the paint herself. Painting was her escape from reality, and always lost track of time with each stroke of the brush. It made her happy, free… so she never personally minded the mess.

"Name?" the bouncer asked, looking down at her expectantly, shaking her from her thoughts. "I'm here with Victor Stones group, Kori Anders" she peeped out, looking up at the man, who truly did look terrifying. He glanced down at the sheet for a moment, and then looked back at her. "Very well," he moved aside, letting her past him into the doorway.

"Well this is definitely creepy after all," she noted, dancing her way awkwardly through the crowd, eyes scanning everywhere for her friends. She felt extremely out of place, as everyone there had unnatural colored hair and wore black leather outfits or hardly any clothes at all.

After torturous minutes of being felt up and grabbed by random strangers, relief washed over her as she saw a table of her friends sitting in the back of the club.

She walked briskly over to the table, noticing a few unfamiliar faces sitting there as well. She saw Victor sitting down with his girlfriend Karen Beecher in his lap. Then there was Garfield Logan and his girlfriend, her other best friend, Rachel Roth. Kori sighed as she realized that Rachel was already practically wasted, she was always the first one to get drunk. She was just glad that Garfield was always there to take care of her. Also, sitting across from them was their other friend Wally.

Her eyes then rested on a man sitting down next to Karen with dark black hair and shining blue eyes, which had a red headed woman attached to his arm. There was also another man who also had red hair, gulping down shots. She was slightly disappointed in the fact that she didn't know everyone she'd be spending time with tonight, since Victor acted like it would just be their usual group of friends.

She blushed as she realized that the mysterious black haired, blue eyed man was staring at her, and knew she was caught staring at them. Before she could say hello, she felt strong arms wrap around her and heard Victor roaring her name. She could smell the liquor on his breath.

She giggled and hugged him back. "Kori, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up! You three, this is Kori Anders, and this is Richard Grayson," he stated, gesturing towards the man with the black hair, "and his girlfriend Barbara Gordon."

"Please, call me Babs," the woman spoke up, in what seemed to be a fake 'sweet' voice. Kori already felt oddly annoyed with the woman 'Babs'.

"And I'm Roy," said the red headed man, who smiled up at her, not before his eyes scanned up and down her body.

I really wish I had a coat to wear she thought, holding awkwardly onto her left arm.

Karen gave her a sympathetic look, immediately picking up on her feeling awkward and out of place. "Want a drink Kori? It'll help," she said into Kori's ear, standing up to let her in the booth. Kori nodded after a moment of thinking, and took the drink from Karen's hands.

Kori scooted in and was then sitting next to the man with black hair, also known as Richard. She had to admit he was strikingly handsome, and seemed to be oddly quiet just like she was. She heard Babs clear her throat, and Kori glanced up at her, knowing Babs had caught her staring at Richard.

"Dick, can we dance?" Babs whined into his ear, pushing herself against him. Kori could have sworn that she saw him roll his eyes, but looked away from the couple, and took another drink.

"Why even come here then, if you won't even dance with me?" Babs protested, staring at him looking pissed off. Richard merely shrugged his shoulders, and took a drink of his White Russian, not even looking at her.

"Roy, dance with me, since he won't," she said hatefully, digging her nails into Roy's arm, and made their way out to the dance floor.

She heard Richard chuckle beside her, but she chose not to comment. She glanced around the club, and though she felt out of place, she had to admit that the club itself was beautiful. The inside seemed like an old, mysterious dungeon, and then she knew why Rachel liked it here so much. She heard Karen order Kori a few more drinks.

She was in the middle of her thoughts about the interior design of the place, and the way the dancing crowd just blurred together moving as one, when she realized that all of her friends were now a part of the crowd. Feeling a little dizzy from not paying attention to exactly how much alcohol she was drinking, she sighed and leaned back against the seat, closing her eyes.

"Feeling alright? You sure have been sucking down those Cosmos," a deep voice said from beside her, amusement evident in his tone. She opened her eyes, and looked beside her, realizing it was the first time she heard him speak.

"I… I, um, yes. I'm okay," she lamely stuttered out, causing him to chuckle. She enjoyed the sound of it, and couldn't resist the smile that formed on her lips. "I just don't really drink much, Karen said it would help."

"Help what?" he asked lightly, his blue eyes sparking with interest a bit.

She couldn't help but to stare into them, he had the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. They reminded her of the ocean she swam in when she was seven, the last vacation with her father that she went on. She instinctively grabbed her necklace; an emerald jewel that her father always said matched her eyes, and began twirling it around her fingers.

"Hello?" he asked, a lopsided grin on his face. Her cheeks felt warm, and she glanced down at the table. "Sorry, I get… distracted easily, you know, lost in my own head. But, I'm not used to the… club atmosphere, so Karen said it would help me relax a little. To be honest, I didn't realize how fast I was drinking them."

He smiled in response, and turned back to his own drink. Way to go, I just blew it with my awful blabbing, she thought, disappointed that he didn't bother to reply with words.

She took another drink, and practically jumped when he spoke up again. "What?" she asked; embarrassed that she didn't catch what he had said. He chuckled again, "I said," he started, "Why aren't you dancing with everyone else? You know, I don't dance because I like to sit here by myself, and you're kind of ruining that for me."

She almost choked on her drink, and turned at him wide eyed. "I am sorry… I didn't realize, exc use me," she retorted, trying to get up out of the booth.

She whipped her head around quickly and stared daggers at him as he reached out and grabbed her wrist. Noticing her glare, he instantly let go of her wrist and held his hands up. "Whoa, easy there. I was only joking. Please, sit back down." He gestured down towards the seat next to him, and scooted down a little bit.

She relaxed her face, and sat back down wearily, keeping a little bit more distance between them. "Sorry, the joke was not very evident," she murmured apologetically, knowing she had overreacted to him touching her as well. "But, I believe it is you who needs to be asked why you are not out dancing with your girlfriend, she seemed pretty upset."

Richard snorted, "Babs? Upset? Why, I've never heard of that ever happening before!" She giggled, sensing his sarcasm. He grinned down at her, happy to hear her laugh.

"Ever tried a White Russian before?" he inquired, ordering another one as the waitress walked by, who looked at him dreamily as he finished ordering. Kori merely shook her head, and was surprised to find that she was enjoying his company. Usually she didn't do so well with strangers.

"Here, try it," Richard advised, shoving the almost empty glass towards her. She looked at it strangely, before taking a drink of it hesitantly.

She heard him laugh beside her, and she knew she must have made a funny face at the taste of it. "Yeah, I guess it isn't for everyone," he admitted, taking the glass back from her.


"Uh oh," Karen stated, as she rubbed her backside against Victor, who had his arms wrapped around her tightly. "What?" he breathed, finding it hard to focus on anything but his girlfriend. "Looks like Richard made a new friend," she said, gesturing towards their table, watching Kori and Richard laugh over what looked to be his drink.

"So? Kori's a nice girl, it's easy to like her," Victor laughed, "and it's good to see her getting a little bit out of her bubble. I swear she's always hiding away in her apartment, like she's too scared to leave it."

Karen stopped dancing and turned around, looking up at him thoughtfully, "She's a nice girl, Victor. But Barbara isn't," she nodded her head towards Babs, and Victor looked over to see her, and noticing Babs was glaring at the table.

"Uh oh is right then," Victor admitted, "Should we go over there or something? Kori isn't a girl who is used to bitches like Babs."

Karen giggled, "Nah, if anything were to happen, I know Richard would handle it. Now get over here," she flirted, motioning him towards her.


"What the hell is going on over there?" Babs practically shrieked, trying to look over the dancing bodies in the crowd. Her eyes landed on her boyfriend, sitting too close to Kori for her liking. When she saw him laugh, she could feel her blood boiling. Roy groaned, "I'm sure it's nothing, now stop freaking out. They're just talking, and it's not like you haven't done more than 'just talking' to a guy behind Richard's back."

She turned around glared at him, her breathing coming in short pants. "If you Ever speak to anyone about what happened between us, or even bring it back up to me one more time, I swear to God Roy, I will destroy you." She poked her finger into his chest, "Trust me, what we had is over."

"Whatever you say darling," he laughed, pulling her against him, his eyes roaming her body, enjoying the way she looked in her tight, short pink dress. "Well, either go over there and ruin the night, or keep dancing with me. What I'm not going to do, however, is just stand here and listen to you bitch over him, so make up your mind."


"Where are you even from?" he asked, more seriously "I've never seen you around here before, which is weird since we have mutual friends." His eyes searching her face, he couldn't get over how beautiful she was.

"Well I moved here almost two years ago, and met our friends almost a year ago. I don't really go out that much… I met Rachel in Roreks Library downtown." She giggled to herself about the awkward meeting; they had turned around and ran into each other as they both turned to go in the opposite direction down the aisle, not paying attention because they both were reading books as they were walking.

"Hmm… Let me guess, in the horror section?"

She found herself laughing once again, realizing this was the most she had laughed in a long time. "No, actually. We were both in the fantasy section."

"Well, I –" he started, before being interrupted.

"And what is going on here?" a very angry voice yelled out, and Kori glanced up to see a very pissed off looking Babs standing in front of their table.

"We were just –" Kori began, but Babs snapped her fingers in her face. "I don't remember asking you, what was it? Tori?" She shouted at, glaring down at her.

"Kori. It's Kori," Richard corrected, rolling his eyes at his girlfriend yet again.

"Meet me in the car, Dick. I want to go home, now." She turned around, and then was gone as quick as she had arrived.

Kori had been glancing down at her hands, toying with her fingers awkwardly after Barbara had shouted at her; she tried her hardest to avoid conflict at all costs. She scooted out of the booth, allowing Richard through. He felt bad for her, and was upset that she didn't even seem to want to look at him.

He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, not wanting to just up and leave. "I am sorry about her behavior… She can be a little… much, sometimes," he said in an almost jokingly tone, though he honestly couldn't stand the way she acted. "It was very nice to meet you, Kori. Hope to see you around again soon?"

She nodded politely, and mustered up a smile. "It was very nice to meet you too, Richard, and I'm sure you will sometime." She had just then realized how tall he was, she guessed around 6'1-6'2". He dressed well, in a form fitting long sleeve white V-neck shirt, and dark jeans.

She tore her eyes off him and turned to sit back down at the table, when she felt him brush his body against hers, and she felt her face redden. His lips brushed against her ear as he whispered, "You look beautiful tonight. No one else acknowledged it, so I figured I would. See you around, Kori."

Her eyes widened and she went to turn around again, but he was already making his way towards the exit. She knew she was still blushing, and held onto her arm again just as awkwardly as before. "Thank you, Richard…" she whispered to herself as she began twirling her necklace again, as his body disappeared in the crowd.


I know it's soon, but here's the 'first' chapter. This chapter was mainly focusing on meeting everyone and to go into the relationships a little bit. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites!
Read and review if you want, let me know what you think. :)