Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans

On the Precipice

For the rest of the following week, when her mind wasn't occupied worrying over Rachel, all Kory could think about was Nightwing.

Their interaction replayed over and over in her head, although it was slightly fuzzy due to all the whiskey she had drank with Rachel that day. Why was she always drunk when this dude decided to show up?

"You can call me Nightwing"

Nightwing. What kind of name was that? Sure, it sounded mysterious, but why not something simple of the 'Superman' variety?

"O-kay, Nightwing..." She remembered saying. "Why exactly are you creeping around my fire escape?"

"I liked your spunk the other weekend, kickin' that muggers ass. Very hot I might add, you could give me a run for my money." She had been too stunned to groan at his lame attempt at flirting.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Ah, you caught me. I have a soft side, wanted to check up on ya." His covered head tilted as he had examined her underneath the sleek black fabric. "And I couldn't help but overhearing your conversation just now –"

She had bristled at that, rising onto her knees to jab an accusatory finger in his direction. "You've been eavesdropping? What are you, stalking me?"

"Oh no, sweetheart." Kory remembered hissing at that, no longer amused with his little pet names. "Well, eavesdropping, probably. It's part of the job I'm afraid."

"You call spying on people in a spandex suit a job?" she had spat at him.

"Well it sure doesn't pay the bills," He had chuckled despite her fiery tone, pushing Kory's tolerance to the edge. "But I think my services might be useful in your friends situation."

That had not been what Kory expected him to say. She had stared flabbergasted at Nightwing, and he had taken her silence as a sign to elaborate.

"I deal with criminals, under the radar of course. Stealth and surveillance, ya know? So if some dude is bothering your friend, then I could provide protection."

Could he be? No – those stories are just urban legends; some superhero nerd's pipe dream, she remembered thinking as she had continued to stare at the dark figure silhouetted by the dim street lights.

"Well I'm afraid I can't afford to pay some vigilante-wannabe by the hour."

It was his turn to bristle, as if she had offended him, bringing a dramatic hand to his chest. "You wound me! I'm no wannabe, honey. I'm the vigilante everyone wants to imitate. Nor would I stoop so low as to charge. It's my duty to protect the people of this city."

Kory wasn't sure what had possessed her to even consider his offer, let alone believe that he could be telling the truth. Again, she blamed the whiskey. Or maybe it was the way Nightwing had said that last line, It's my duty to protect; his teasing tone had completely dissolved into a genuine tenacity. Even though she was skeptic, he obviously believed so wholeheartedly in what he was saying that it had forced the words out of her mouth before she could even stop to consider them.

"He's not just some dude. Her father tried to ritualistically sacrifice her. His own daughter... and now he's escaped from federal prison."

Even covered head to toe, Kory could tell that she had taken Nightwing by surprise. His body visibly lurched back and he seemed too stunned to even speak. She winced remembering how brutal she had sounded. But the truth was a sick, bitter pill to swallow.

"So if you could actually provide some sort of viable protection from a mass murderer, then, sure. That'd be great. But if you're just playing at hero, then you can get the fuck off my fire escape."

Nightwing had considered her behind his glassy frames for what felt like an eternity; Kory would've given anything at that moment to be able to see the face beneath the hood, to gauge whatever expression had been brewing beneath. But with a sudden vigor, he had shot up to his feet and was halfway over the railing of the stairwell before turning back to look at her.

"I'll see what I can do. I'll be in touch." And with that, Nightwing had launched himself back down into the alleyway, the only sound was that of the rattling metal fire escape as he vaulted down. Kory had sprang up to the railing after him as fast as she could, but by the time she looked down, he had jumped onto an awaiting motorcycle and speed off into the night.

As she currently sat on the city bus on her way to work, Kory rehashed the conversation for the thousandth time. The whole exchange had left an uncomfortable knot in her stomach, one that hadn't untangled itself even during the course of the week. She hadn't heard a peep from Nightwing since, and she was starting to believe that it had just been a product of her overactive imagination.

Telling Rachel about her encounter was a no-go. Her friend was in a fragile enough state as it was, and even if she wasn't, there was no doubt that she'd reprimand Kory for talking to strangers about her personal business. Especially ones that only came out at night.

The growl of a motorcycle engine jolted her out of her memory, and she swiveled around so fast in her seat that she almost gave herself whiplash. Pressing her face to the glass of the bus window to find the source, Kory was disappointed to see a large bearded man clad in a red bandana riding on an obnoxiously yellow motorcycle. Not a hooded man on a sleek black bike.

Kory turned back in her seat, feeling very childish for even thinking that Nightwing would wear his full garb out in broad daylight, and tried to ignore the wary stares of her fellow passengers. She dug around in her messenger bag, pulling out her headphones. Cranking up the volume, she prayed that the blasting music would drown out her incessant thoughts of the strange vigilante.

"Earth to Kory!"

"Huh?"

Only just realizing that her companion wasn't keeping pace with her anymore, Kory turned around to face her co worker who had stopped a couple paces behind her in the middle of the hallway. Her brows were furrowed above her catlike eyes, hands turning up in a questioning gesture.

"What's going on with you? You've been out of it all week, and you barely said one word during that meeting." Lucky moved her hands onto her hips and leveled Kory with an accusatory stare. Kory could practically see annoyance rolling off her in waves. "Even after I gave the best pitch of my career!"

Kory shifted her laptop uncomfortably in her arms, feeling too guilty to meet Lucky's eyes, scanning the narrow hallway instead to make sure no one else filtering out of the conference room was listening to this impromptu intervention.

"I'm sorry, Lucky. I've just..." Kory started, fishing for the right response. Her mind seemed to be only existing on two planes at the moment, switching furiously between Rachel and Nightwing. But neither of them were really appropriate topics of discussion at the workplace. "A lot of things have been going on. I guess... I'm just distracted."

Lucky rolled her eyes at Kory's lame excuse, but starting walking alongside her again nevertheless. The floor had cleared of other employees by now, the only sound was the click-clack of their heels reverberating off the shiny marble floors.

Kory and the pink haired project manager had hit it off almost immediately. Kory found her candor and eccentricity refreshing in the swarm of grey suits that was Wayne Enterprises; but she liked it better when Lucky's keen skills of observation were put towards marketing strategy. Not her inner turmoil.

"Alright, is it some guy? Am I gonna have to kill him?" Lucky deadpanned. Kory also thoroughly enjoyed her dry sense of humor.

"Ha ha. No, it's nothing like that." Kory dismissed with a wave of her hand. A comfortable silence settled between them as they continued walking towards the elevator before a thought struck her. "You grew up in Gotham, right?"

"Born and raised!" said Lucky proudly before tilting her head. "Why?"

"Well," Kory began, holding her badge to the elevator scanner, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Since I've moved here, I've heard weird stories about some local superhero-vigilantes guys... Do you know anything about them?"

"Ugh, don't tell me you believe in that crap." Lucky groaned as they stepped into the empty elevator. Unsure of how to respond because yes, she knew for a fact that they were real, Kory innocently shrugged. Lucky rolled her eyes and leaned back into the elevator wall, the billowing black sleeves of her blouse rustling as she adjusted the strap of her bag. "Wally is like, borderline obsessed with them. He founded a fan club where him and a bunch of nerds sit around and look for clues every week. It's insane."

Kory's heart began fluttering with excitement. She had spent countless hours over the week, staying up until ungodly hours searching for any shred of information on Nightwing; combing through every last news article about recent crimes on the local newspaper's online archive. Nothing came up. Nada. Zip. Zilch. That's why she'd been so out of it; she was burning the candle on both ends trying to keep up with work and solve the mystery of Nightwing and not to mention, be a one-woman support team for Rachel. Really, the candle was burning from all angles.

But a fan club, why hadn't she thought of that before? It could be the perfect opportunity to dig up some clues.

"Would you take me to one? A meeting?" Kory pleaded, despite the look of utter horror Lucky gave her in return.

"No, not you too! And here I thought you were cool." She groaned again, shaking her head as they finally exited the elevator. Kory put on her best pouting face, praying that it worked as well on Lucky as it did on Rachel. She threw in the lip quiver for good measure. Cat like features narrowed in on Kory before Lucky broke into a defeated sigh. "Okay, fine! But you owe me!"

But the expression on Lucky's face as they rounded the corner into their office space cut her oncoming thanks short. Kory followed her shocked gaze to where it landed on one of the most ostentatious sights she'd ever seen.

"Oh my god!" Lucky squealed.

"Oh my god," Kory echoed in shock.

Kory's modest cubicle had been filled, quite literally to the brim, with red roses. Vases upon vases of vibrant scarlet petals crowded every inch of her desk, some even overflowing up unto the shelves. The sight had drawn a small gathering on onlookers, chittering in excitement.

Lucky dashed ahead, her long ponytail swishing behind her, as Kory remained rooted to her spot. After struggling to scoop her jaw back up from the floor, Kory finally followed in suit. Lucky was digging through the flowers, and after a moment she pulled out a white envelope, addressed to Kory in a neat, sloping cursive. She had a hunch of who it was from.

"I thought you said there wasn't a guy!" Lucky accused playfully, eyes shining wide in excitement as she took in the red display.

Kory ignored her and tore into the letter.

I'm cashing in my raincheck.

I hope you like French cuisine. I'll pick you up tonight at 7.

Richard

Where a smile should've been blooming across her face, sat a frown deepening in shame. Her growing obsession with Nightwing had completely eclipsed her excitement for her upcoming date with Richard. In fact, their plans had totally escaped her mind. Shit. Guilt pooled viciously in her stomach, threatening to explode as she looked over the beautiful gift of flowers.

"Who's it from?" The sound of her co workers voice snapped Kory out of her thoughts, and she quickly tried to rearrange her features to meet Lucky's expectant gaze. The surrounding crowd made her suddenly hesitant to answer; what would everyone think of her going on a date with the son of their CEO? Were there anti-fraternization rules that she had skimmed over in the contract? Richard must not have cared if he was blasé enough to send all of these roses to her office.

Once again showing her knack for perception, Lucky turned to address the cluster of employees still hovering around like piranhas, eager to sink their teeth into any tidbit of gossip. "Don't you people have jobs to do?"

"Thanks." Kory mumbled, falling into her swivel chair after everyone had dispersed. Lucky climbed up onto her desk in front of the computer monitor, which had thankfully been left empty.

"Now spill. Who's this mystery guy drowning you in roses?" Said Lucky, looking like she was going to burst from the suspense of it all. Feeling only slightly more at ease, Kory rolled in close and dropped her voice, just in case any nosy cubicle neighbors were listening.

"Richard Grayson." She whispered, some excitement usurping her guilt at the mention of his name.

"Holy. Shit."

"Is something wrong with your food?"

Being lost in her thoughts seemed to be Kory's new M.O. She looked up in surprise at Richard who was sitting across the table from her. He had been watching with gentle eyes as she picked at her salmon, turning the elegantly plated dish into a pile of pink fish chunks.

"Oh, yes," She said, face deepening in embarrassment as she quickly tried to damage control. God, first she forgot about the date and now she was zoning out during it. Pull yourself together, Kory! "Everything is absolutely wonderful!"

It was probably, no, definitely the most luxurious restaurant she had ever stepped foot into. The maître d'hôtel, dressed in a pristine suit and a sophisticated french accent had brought them to their table, which sat next to a completely glass window that looked down into the city from the top floor of the building. The atmosphere was posh; a chandelier cast a dim glow from overhead as candles flickered at every table, another sharply dressed woman sat a grand piano in the far corner and graced the room with her gentle tunes. The tables, far and few, were spaced out, allowing couples to speak without fear of being overheard. Even Richard looked splendid in a smart dark blue blazer over a pinstriped button up. A small rose that Kory had taken from one of the vases sat in his breast pocket.

And here Kory was blowing it by thinking about that stupid man in the black costume.

"I'm glad," Richard replied, but his smile still looked skeptical. "But you seem distracted, is something on your mind?"

There was the guilt creeping back again. His icy blue eyes examined her carefully, as if trying to catch every micro expression that she was repressing with difficulty. She fiddled with the pale silky strings of her wrap dress in a vain attempt to conceal her flood of emotions. She knew she should've taken a nap before coming out, but when she had gotten home from work Rachel seemed so torn up after a meeting with the police, that Kory couldn't not try and help assuage her anxiety.

"You're not the first person to say that today, actually." She admitted finally, fork unconsciously wandering back to pick at her plate. "I guess it's just everything going on with –"

"Rachel?" He supplied when her sentence hung in the air unfinished, as she realized in an attempt to cover her thoughts about Nightwing, she had almost revealed Rachel's situation. Damn it, she really should've napped.

"Ye – wait! How do you know about that?" Kory exclaimed, spiraling head first back into reality as she stared daggers at the man across the table. Her fork clattered loudly onto the plate.

"I don't know anything," He responded swiftly, leaning forward and speaking in a soothing voice in attempt to mollify her. Couples from nearby tables had turned to send a nasty glare Kory's way. "Garfield hasn't heard from her since the day you cancelled, so I just assumed the two might be related."

"Oh my god, I am so sorry." It was unclear whether guilt or embarrassment were winning the fight in her gut as she hid behind her hands, too ashamed at her outburst to even look him in the eye. She resisted the strong urge to sprint into the bathroom and cry at her exhaustion fueled mood swings. Here Richard had kindly acclimated to her schedule, sent her a desk-full of roses, and taken her to a beautiful five-star restaurant and Kory was accusing him of – well, she wasn't even sure of what she was accusing him of! Floaters danced angrily behind her eyes as her fingers dug into her lids, and she could hear the ghost of her mothers voice chastising her for her abysmal behavior.

"Hey," His voice was as tender as his hands that delicately peeled hers off her face, holding them gently across the table. "It's okay, Kory. Do you want to talk about it?"

Face and hair a matching set, Kory stared at Richard in amazement. How was he not looking at her like she was off her rocker? In fact, he was still holding her hands, rubbing soothing circles with his thumbs over her knuckles, patiently waiting for her to respond. Kory's heart swelled well beyond the constricting space of her ribcage.

"I – I can't, I'm sorry. It's not my place to tell Rachel's secrets..." She stared down at their clasped hands, the sight strengthening her resolve to get this date back on the right track. Taking a few calming breaths, she eventually met his eyes once more. God, he was so handsome. "Could we just start over? I promise to remain present from here on out."

"I would love that," And with that, Richard brought her hand up to his mouth, lips ghosting across her knuckles. His eyes deep as the ocean as they anchored onto hers. A hummingbird took the place of Kory's heart and the attraction she had felt towards him during every previous interaction came back full force, like she was short circuiting and all she could think of is where else she wanted those to lips to graze.

Looking devilishly pleased with the effect he had produced, Richard sat back in the plush chair, pulling Kory back into reality. Holy shit, so much for staying present. She had forgotten that they were even in a restaurant. She had forgotten her name.

"Why don't we finish up here. There's one more stop I have planned for tonight."

Pegasus twinkled mischievously at her down through the lense, the angled prism and into the eyepiece of a larger than life telescope. Richard had whisked her off in his expensive car out into the countryside, refusing to reveal the surprise location until they pulled up to a large domed observatory. Owned by Wayne Enterprises, obviously.

Kory had to hand it to him, the man sure knew how to sweep a girl off her feet.

Pulling away from the lense, grinning like a child in a large astral candy store, Kory caught Richard unabashedly staring at her. He could've been blushing, but it was too dark in the equatorial room to be sure. She reached for his hand, pulling him forward to take a look through the telescope. He threaded their fingers together before bending down to see the stars that she had framed.

Even with one eye squinted shut, he looked modelesque; the dark waves of his hair were combed back and his jaw was sharp in the dim light. She could just barely make out a freckle by his ear. Not wanting to be gawking at him silently, Kory found herself rambling on about her favorite subject.

"That constellation there is Pegasus. The brightest star to the west there, is called Enif, which means muzzle in Arabic. It's kind of orange because it's a supergiant star, so it's roughly twelve times bigger than –" Richard had pulled away from the lense and was now watching Kory as she blathered, a goofy grin pulling it's way across his face. She could feel hers burning in response, feeling exceptionally warm under his unfaltering gaze. "Sorry, I'm totally geeking out, aren't I?"

He shook his head, still not taking his eyes off her, the motion incapable of shaking off the smile.

They were so close now that Kory could feel his breath fanning gently against her, the smell of his cologne intoxicating. Blood was pumping loudly in her ears, and through her slowly muddling thoughts she realized that they were absolutely alone for the first time.

The way he was looking at her was, well... wow. Like she was a star coming to greet a lonely astronaut in the vast emptiness of space. And Richard was in her orbit now, circling his arms around her as they crashed together in a fantastic supernova.

Later that night she replayed over and over the way his lips felt pressed against hers, feathering along her jaw, trailing down her neck. The way he had pressed her against the wall in the hallway outside her apartment door, roaming hands desperately asking – no, pleading to come inside.

The look of pure desire in his darkened blue eyes as she told him no was just barely worth the insatiable sensation now pooling between her legs. Finally stripped of her fancy dress, and laying alone (of her own volition, she had to remind herself), it seemed scratching the itch herself was becoming her only plausible option. But the sight of something attached to her window halted any alleviating activities.

What the hell was it?

Pulling on large t-shirt that just barely covered her exposed legs, Kory opened her window, crawling out onto the fire escape. It was a large manila envelope taped precariously to the glass. She spun on her heel, looking out into the darkness to search for whoever had left it. But there was no one, just the wind howling through the empty alleyway. A shiver ran up her spine that had nothing to do with the autumn chill.

Kory tugged the envelope off her window, and climbed back into her room, making sure to lock it and pull down the shades. The thought of someone creeping outside her window made her equally uncomfortable as it did remind her of the vigilante she had actually been able to forget about for the last few hours. Once under the covers to warm the goosebumps covering her legs, Kory ripped open the envelope and held it under the light of her bedside lamp.

In plain black ink, typed and printed out as to remain untraceable, read:

IF YOU WANT MY HELP, MEET ME AT PIER #5. WEDNESDAY. 11PM.

-N

A/N: Another chapter in less than a week? Who am I?

Hope you all enjoyed it! And just in case it wasn't clear, Lucky is supposed to be Jinx. Wikia told me that was her normal name so I'm rolling with it.

All of the reviews/favs/follows mean so much! Thanks for all the support!

-M

Azarath Cat asked: Is Starfire your favorite character? Or is her perspective just best for this story? If she's not your favorite, who is?

It's hard to pick a favorite character from Teen Titans... What I really enjoy is all of their dynamics, and how diverse and different they all are yet work so cohesively together. It's really fun to explore that in a modern setting! But if I had to pick, it'd probably be Raven. I think Starfire's perspective is easier to write in however.

As for picking Starfire as the main character, I can't remember my exact reasoning since I started this story so long ago haha. I think her perspective works best to explore the duality of Richard/Nightwing since she'll be the one exposed to both of them. But I also really enjoy giving her a sense of agency and awareness that she kinda lacks in the show due to being an alien. And just making her an intelligent badass woman! I think she tends to get written off as air headed and ditzy a lot, so I really want to breathe some new life into her and show that women can be girly/emotional but also kickass.