I am so sorry peoples. I had to take a little mini-cation with my gradma and she's one of those old-fashion-no-internet-family time type of people. But, I got this out as soon as I could.
I wont delay you this any longer. Plz keep reviewing. I swear they make me type faster.
-_-ATOF-_-
-TT-
"Shut. That. Crap. Off." Raven growled. "If I have to meditate in this car full of boys, it will be in utter silence."
Blue Jay flinched. They hadn't been in the car for more than a half an hour, and yet Raven was already threatening to throw the entire car into a ditch. You'd think that driving at night would lull everyone into a peaceful mood, but with Cyborg playing his rap music loudly, peace was not in the air.
Cyborg was opting to drive all night, his in car plugs allowed him to charge and drive without the need for sleep. Blue jay thought that was both cool and reassuring. He'd feel better sleeping if he knew someone else was up, and he felt extremely tired.
His injuries were far from finished healing, resulting in making him very tired. But, being in a moving car helped ease him a bit, and when Cyborg (reluctantly) turned off the loud rap music, he almost instantly went to sleep.
Beast Boy though, seemed unable to sleep. He danced a bit in his seat, took numerous bathroom breaks, hummed to himself, and whined about the length of the ride. Everyone knew Beast Boy wasn't one to sit still for very long, but his childish antics were cutting everyone's nerves.
"I hate this quiet." he said, suddenly. "I cant concentrate with no noise."
Blue Jay really couldn't work out in his head how that could be, but no one objected when Cyborg turned back on the radio, opting for the news channel on low. Raven didn't growl and Beast Boy had his noise. Everyone was happy.
And we'll go back to you, Gloria, with the latest news on the Hastened Grayson.
Blue Jay reacted before he knew what was even on the radio. Pressing a few buttons, he turned the radio up as loud as it could go.
"Yo, man." Cyborg said, slapping Blue Jay's hand "Stop pressin buttons. You gonna-"
"I thought," Raven said, her voice louder than Cyborg's "I told everyone to keep the noise level-"
"Ow, dude!" Beast Boy's yelled "My ear drums. I was, like, right next to the speaker thingy and-"
"SHUT UP!" Blue Jay yelled, shutting everyone up quickly. "Let me listen."
Raven's eyes widened for a moment, Beast Boy turned into a possum and hid further inside his blanket, and Cyborg flipped his eyes back onto the road.
Thanks, Rochelle. Earlier today, a Grayson was seen exciting the Jump City Mall with local girlfriend, Kori Anders. Reporters say, they thought it was the ever-so present Nick Grayson, as he is often seen, shopping with friends. When the Grayson reported that he was indeed, not Nick, but Dick, he was ambushed by local fans and reporters.
Just moments earlier, a mysterious bomb incident had caused the malls escalators to collapse. Two women was hospitalized, but are said to be stable, and on their way to recovery.
No further news of where Dick has been or why he suddenly showed up now. Witnesses and local pedestrians are strong in their belief that Dick had nothing to do with the collapsed escalator, but police and investigators are looking in to it. He has yet to give a statement, disappearing suddenly after the chaos escalated.
We'll have the full story tonight on the eleven o'clock news. And back to you, Rochelle with the weather and traffic for tonight.
"If you ask me," Beast Boy said, when he was sure Blue Jay had heard what he wanted to hear "I think Dick Grayson probably did do it. The rich kids are always the ones who are behind the mess."
Cyborg turned down the radio, nodding his head. "Yeah, BB. Don't trust no one who shops more than 3 times a week. That just spells bad news."
"Don't judge," Raven said, finally giving up on meditating "He may not have been the one behind this. He could have been set up."
"Doubt it," Beast Boy argued, "That DICK of a guy and his brother are nothing but spoiled kids. You know they came from a circus?"
"There's nothing wrong with the circus." Blue Jay said, his voice low. This was an exceedingly horrible conversation to be having. Not to mention the fact that the team was insulting him, his brother, and their entire heritage.
"Circuses," Raven scoffed "Hate them. Their dirty and loud and nothing but a joke. Whats so great about flying around in tights?"
"We do it." Blue Jay snapped at her. It infuriated him to hear how shallow the they were being. They had no idea how hard the performers worked and how serious they all took their jobs.
"No, we," Raven responded "Save lives. They make fools of themselves in front of people with no lives."
"They do it because they want to entertain." Blue Jay said, crossing his arms.
"Dude," Beast Boy said "I dont know why your getting all defensive. Those circus people are jokes. I mean, I love a joke as much as the next guy but, the circus people are like, at the bottom of the food chain."
"Those Grayson kids," Cyborg added "Are nothing but lucky. Had that Wayne not of been at that show that night their parents died, they'd be in some orphanage or something."
"What happened to their parents?" Beast Boy asked
"I dont remember," Raven said "Something about an accident. I think the equipment broke or something, and they fell from their trapeze ropes."
"I bet Dick and his brother did it themselves." Cyborg said, shaking his head "Probably planned the whole thing."
"Thats not true," Blue Jay said, joining the conversation again "How would you know?"
"I dont," Cyborg said "I'm just saying. I've always hated the acrobats and the trapeze people. All phonies."
"They do what I do." Blue Jay said.
By now, he was ready to explode. It was times like these when he was glad he didn't have powers, because surely, he'd accidentally kill some people. How could the team, his friends, his only family, talk this way? Granted, they didn't know they were talking about him, but they could have some respect. If anything, they could have at least said 'well, I am sorry they lost their parents', some kind of pity, anything.
Normally, he didn't want any pity. He didn't need to be looked at with those sad eyes and horrible 'fake' words of sorrow he used to hear as a child. 'I'm so sorry for you lost', 'Aren't you brave?', 'If theres anything we can do-'. Blue Jay, and more importantly, Nick, was tired of those lines. He already knew what he had lost, he didn't need to be reminded every second of the day. Him and his brother were practically alone in the world. He got it, no need to expand on the thought. And with the team, his friends, bashing and insulting his other identity, he really felt as if he were alone in the car.
"No, dude," Beast Boy said "what you do is, like, awesome. I mean, you help people with your cool ninja kicks and-"
"Ow," Raven said and Blue Jay could tell that Beast Boy had been trying to act out his abilities and hit Raven in the process.
Blue Jay slunk down in his seat, allowing the team to talk all they wanted about his brother and him. About his parents. His life. He was the leader in his brothers absence, but he made no move to command an end to the conversation. They could say what they wanted to. If they thought this about him, what did other people think? He hadn't chosen this life, he was thrown into it. He had excepted his past when denial was no longer an option, but he was always able to push it aside. Now, with a new perspective of his life, he wondered just how horrible he actually seemed.
Kory cracked open her eyes. White filled her vision and she breathed in the scent that was clearly Richard. She could tell him apart from anyone. She flinched, scared, when Richard took a deep breath. She waited for him to relax before moving a bit, only to remember that his hands were locked together.
She traced random shapes in his chest until he relaxed enough to allow her to slip under his arms. Standing up from the bed, she looked around the room. It looked a horrible mess. She had wondered a bit about where the pillows had went, but now she saw, they went everywhere. They lay in clumps and heaps all around the floor. The lamp that had that ugly yellow shade was shredded to pieces in every part of the room that it shouldn't of been in.
She was headed to the bathroom, when she heard Dick's phone ring. Its loud tinkling ringtone was loud enough to wake anyone. She rushed over to it, hiding it in her shirt, trying to dim the sound before it woke Richard. He usually woke up early, but when he awaken by something else, he tended to be in a sour mood.
She ran into the bathroom, closing the door quietly. Looking at the phone, she realized that the name TIM was on the screen. Now that she knew how the phone worked, she knew Tim wasn't actually in the phone. Surely Richard wouldn't be cross with her if she answered the phone to Tim. She had spoken to him before.
Pressing the green phone button, she placed the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Uh, this isn't Dick, is it?"
"No, this is Kory."
"Kory? Is this Dicks phone, or wrong number?"
"No, this is Dicks phone."
"..."
"..."
"Could you put Dick on the phone?"
"He's asleep right now and I wish not to wake him. Perhaps you do the leaving of a message with me?"
"Leaving of a...? Uh, no thanks. You mentioned your name-"
"Kory."
"Right, Kory. Is this, Kory as in Anders as in Starfire...or am I totally off with that accusation?"
Ok, now she was a bit scared. What happened to secret identity? Oh, Dick was going to be angry with her.
"Why is this any of your concern?" she asked, nervously.
"Hey dont sweat it. Your like, the 20th person I've gotten so far. Believe it or not, I figured out Batman first. Dick was easy with Batman done. Some of these guys need new identities, their secret ones stink. Just one look at Clark and you know he's not a normal reporter. The guys got like muscles on his muscles, yet he plays a wimpy nerd. I'm still working on Hawkgirl. I mean, Shyera's not an easy name to track, you know?"
And he kept talking. Half of these people, Kory didn't even know about, but Tim just seemed so open about everything. She could have been some evil person, and yet Tim was giving away secret identities. If Bruce was anything like Dick said he was, he surely wouldn't like Tim talking like this over the phone.
She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, picking at the scab she had gotten from the 'Card Man' back at the mall, still listening as Tim talked about how tricky Shyera's name was and how he was planning on getting it.
"Unfortunately, Batman hasn't really taught me 'the art of the hacker' yet, so getting into the Watchtower database is definitely a no. And the batcaves computer is just as guarded, if not more. I guess I could just try and find some kind of physical hint, y'know like, what person on the street or news had a lumpy back or something. I mean, she has wings. You cant just take them off at the end of the day, there has to be some kind of recognition. Falling feathers, itchy back. That kind of stuff. Do you think-"
Kory was learning two things about Tim.
Either he was lonely or he needed some friends and,
He could really talk. Quite intelligently actually.
Kory had studied the kids of earth, and they really weren't much different than the kids from her planet. Of course, the kids on her planet could fly, but she saw that when the kids here on earth were on the 'skateboards' they looked much like a person would flying on the ground.
But never, had she talked (or listened to rather) to a kid as intelligent. His voice and words were still that of a child, but even from her position, she could feel the air of confidence around him. That cockiness that just said 'I know way more than you' and though he probably did, he kept his cockiness to nothing more than a smug-like attitude. He reminded her of Richard.
Richard was completely cocky, but never really exaggerated more on that. He smiled smugly when he prepared to fight someone he knew he could have pinned in seconds. Though he kept his comebacks and insults to a minimum, she could tell when his bit his tongue, holding something back. She could hear him as he chuckled to himself at something he was dieing to tell a villain. It was the way he was, the way he held himself, even the way he walked: head high with no fear in the world.
She had never seen Tim before, but she could imagine him, walking in a way that made other people feel the urge to make room.
"And the other day, Batman and I chased this guy, The Creeper, all the way to Star City. I mean, the guys a psycho and everything, but he normally just looks for Harley Quinn, Jokers girlfriend. So, we chase him to Star City and you'll never believe who helped us take him out. The FLASH. At first I was just standing there. I mean, Batman's cool, but he doesn't laugh or joke much, but that was all Flash did. It was the funniest fight ever."
She couldn't believe he was still talking. She didn't even think he took a breath. She stood from the floor, phone still to her ear, and ran some water in the sink. It seemed clean enough. She dropped in one of the complimentary toothbrushes and lit her hand green, boiling the water and toothbrush, just in case.
She was about to grab her toothbrush, when her head seemed to suddenly explode with pain. She didn't even have time to gasp before she was plunged into darkness.
Something was off about this darkness though. She wasn't scared and she actually felt almost conscious.She realized she was actually standing up and looked around herself. Yet, all she could see was darkness. A far off voice was everywhere, making her flinch as she remembered that time Raven had attacked her and Robin. But, the voice she heard wasn't Raven's, but a boys and she had to guess it was Tim's voice she was hearing. She tried to find the source of his voice, or at least where it was coming from, but she couldn't find any stronger points of his voice.
"Tim?" she called into the darkness, her voice echoing around her.
Without warning, the darkness began lifting. She expected herself to be back in the bathroom, but found that she was not. Instead, she was in a light blue room. His vision was fuzzy around the edges, but she was to make out the bleakness of the room. A neatly made bed stood tall and extremely large underneath of a opened window. She could nearly feel a cold wind as it pushed into the room, and though it was cloudy, it lit up the large area. Next to the bed was a tall book shelf, filled to the rim with books and on the other side of the bed was a small nightstand, plain, black, and simple. Across from that was a desk, nothing but a lamp, paper, and a computer lay on it. Besides that, nothing else occupied the room. The carpet was clean and not a speck of dust lay around. It reminded her of Richards room.
It wasn't the desk, nor anything on it though, that drew in her attention. What drew her in, was the boy that sat in front of it, staring at the computer screen, face lit and cheerful as he ran his mouth on a phone. He had dark black hair that was spread in every direction, falling into his eyes and all over his face. His face was rounded and heart-shaped, his cheeks clearly full of receding baby fat.
He was smiling, his large, very blue, eyes searching the screen at lightning speed as he typed just as fast. He was a cute kid, and actually, very proper looking. His back was strait as a pencil as he typed. Though his hands were moving faster than her eyes, his wrists never swayed once. He rolled his eyes at something he was reading, but his mouth never stopped moving.
Oddly enough, she could still hear Tim's voice as he spoke to from outside of this place she was in.
"I'm still not allowed to actually fight, but watching the fight was just as awesome. And then, towards the end of the fight, this kid comes out. At first I thought he was just, like, some Flash fan, but when he started running, he was like...The Flash. Totally going the speed of light. I've researched him already, he's called Kid Flash. Real original, right? I'm on my computer now looking at some info, im pretty sure I've got his mentor, Barry Allen, but im not so sure about him. I've got a hunch, maybe...this Wally West kid. Fits the description and everything. Cocky, loud; just how I remember him. Ginger headed, freckles. I dont know, I think this might be him. Anyway-"
Kory held her head, she had another splitting headache. Closing her eyes tight, she held in tears. How many times did she need to endure these head rending pains?
And just like that, the pain was gone. She cracked open her eyes a bit, jumping when she saw eyes looking at her. She relaxed when she realized it was just herself, looking in the cracked mirror of the hotel bathroom.
This was really weird. Did Raven have to go through this kind of stuff all the time, too? Obviously, she and Richard hadn't meditated enough. That mind flash, in which she assumed was her watching Tim as her talked to her on the phone, was not only painful, but utterly confusing. Was that what someone else saw? Did her mind actually travel around the world (or to wherever he was) to see him? Was that even him?
"Are you okay?" he asked
"Huh?" Kory said, just realizing she hadn't been listening.
"I said, are you okay? Your breathing really weird and heavy."
"Oh," she said trying to think of away to wave him off, "I...m-merely s-saw a b-bee. T-tried to be s-still is all." the stuttering, she could have done without. When was Richard going to teach her how to lie?
"Ooo-kay," he said, clearly not believing her lie."But really," he continued, "What do you think? Am I wasting my time trying to figure out who she is, or should I keep digging?" he asked,
"I think," she said, taking a moment to figure out a open answer to his question "I think that you can never waste time searching for what is the truth. If it is something you feel would be of need in future or something that would make you happy, I say, do the going for it."
"Do the going...oh, okay. That makes sense. But what about Martian Manhunter. He's a complete alien. It would be beyond a challenge to try and get his origins down. I mean-"
Kory brushed her teeth with her cleaned toothbrush, careful not to spit on Richards phone. She looked to the door; he was up now. She could feel it. She could practically see him; stretching, yawning, sitting up, looking around himself, noticing she was gone, having a small panic attack.
3 sharp knocks came to the door and she went to open it. She smiled as he visibly relaxed after seeing her. He cocked his head to the side for a moment, looking at his phone in her hands. He looked at her, his eyes slightly squinted and a questioning look on his face.
She wordlessly put the phone to his ear and left to get dressed. She doubted Tim would even realize she was no longer there. Dick noticed immediately who was on the phone. The smart mouthed, yet intelligent, Tim Drake. He was currently talking about something totally unintelligible.
He closed the bathroom door, giving Kory the actual room to change her clothes, and made his way to the sink. If he didn't brush his teeth soon, his own breath would be what took him out. Not Slade, or joker, or Cinderblock.
He noticed the toothbrush Kory obviously used, it was clean and pink. He found another one, sitting on the counter. It was blue and utterly disgusting looking. Dirt and filth lay all over the bristles. Something green was on the handle and he had no intention of touching it.
The simplest was to clean the brush was to boil it. With no kitchen supplies, he supposed the sink would have to do. Closing his eyes, he tried the move the toothbrush into the sink. He really didn't want to touch it. He had never attempted to move anything with telekinesis, but he had to start, or at least practice, sometime. Opening his eyes, he saw the brush was shaking.
With renewed confidence, he expelled a little more force, this time resulting in a cracked mirror. He jumped back, the loud cracks the mirror gave startling him. He shook his head; it was to early to scare himself to death. He plugged the sink, and conservatively put the dirty toothbrush in the water .
"-let alone Gotham. I mean, what if someone like Wally ends up going to Gotham Academy or something. What would I do then? I guess, he wouldn't even be there, since he lives in Star City, but you never know, I mean, that Barry guy; totally unpredictable. And you know what, I think he likes it that way; makes people stay on there toes...kind of like him, right?"
Holding the phone between his shoulder and head, he focused his attention away from Tim, who was talking about some other random thing, and focused more on his anger. Righteous fury. He needed to get this sink water up to a boil without disintegrating it and making it evaporate.
Thinking about his whole situation, anger came easily to him. He just had to learn to channel it to his hands.
In no time, his hands glowed a pale green color and he felt a familiar heat and lowered his hand into the sink water. Tiny bubble came up around his hands, tickling them. Thinking about his parents, he unintentionally brought to much power to his hands, making the sink water explode out into a waterfall of hot water.
The water went far up into the air...then fell down and onto his head, soaking him in its warm grip. He growled to himself. Great.
Kory didn't even bother knocking on the bathroom door. He was angry about something, but he wasn't on the toilet or something. With his clothes from the day before under her arm, she went in, a small smile on her face. Feeling what he was feeling was actually...fun. Yes, this whole situation was nothing short of a curse, but really, being connected to him wasn't even close to the worst part. She understood him a lot better than she ever thought possible.
Normally, he was a closed person; angry most of the time and way too focused. It took her months just to get him to talk to her. When he finally did open up to her, she had been ecstatic. It was only now that she realized, she had barely scratched the surface of his actual personality. He wasn't as focused as she thought, he was just concerned about his tasks. He really wasn't as angry either, just frustrated with himself, mostly.
He was one of those people that was judged easily, yet probably one of the best people to get to know as well. He was a lot sweeter than most people thought him to be and hardly anyone got to see that side of him. From his past story, she realized that Nick and Alfred were really the only ones who were able to get past his outer shell. She was grateful she was one of the people who was getting to really get to know him.
She walked across the small bathroom to where he was standing and took the phone from between his cheek. He was soaking wet and she knew perfectly well why. A brighter smile on her face, she laid down his folded day clothes on a dry part of the counter and turned to walk back to the door. He was still scowling at the sink when she closed the door behind her.
"I mean, is it wrong to still hate the guy? He did steal my chemistry textbook. I know im not even really supposed to be taking the class, but hey, im advanced. I really just wanted to jump up and give the guy a triple back kick to the face, but Bruce says I cant fight in school or show any martial arts abilities. I think that's dumb, plenty of kids take karate. I could just do judo or something. But nooooo, Bruce insists that I take these hits and pretend like im a coward or something, but I swear, if Jesse comes at me one more time, im knocking his face off and taking a few of his teeth as souvenirs."
"Violence," Kory objected, finally getting back into the conversation "Is never the answer-"
"Did you really just say that? You fight practically every day!"
"Well," she said, thinking, "I guess I am not the one to enforce this law, I just heard it on a television show."
This caused Tim to crack up laughing and Kory couldn't help but laugh too, even if she wasn't quite sure why it was so funny. His laugh was just so contagious; high pitched, crackly, and completely childish- almost teasing-like.
Dick came out the bathroom, hair still wet, but he wasn't angry anymore. Plus, hearing Kory laugh was enough to brighten his day. She was sitting on the now made up bed, laughing on the phone at something Tim probably said. Clearing his mind, he was sure he could hear Tim's own voice in his head, yet, he couldn't focus in to Kory enough to hear exactly what it was she was hearing. All he heard was Tim's dull laughing.
Walking towards her, he grabbed her phone from its charger and checked the time. 5:34am.
He was pretty sure the train didn't leave till 7 so he took his time putting his shoes on and finishing getting ready. Today was the day. In probably just a few short hours, he would be face to face with Bruce again. He'd introduce Kory to Alfred. Show the team his true identity and life. Find out what was going on in his life. And...to top it all off, stay away from anyone, besides Kory, who had red hair and a name that started with Barb.
Oh yeah, it was going to be a great day.
"Ok," Kory said, still giggling "Goodbye Tim."
She closed the phone and handed it to Richard.
"He is delightful, Richard," she said, following his lead and putting her sneakers on "You should talk to him more often."
"I think he talks too much, and waaay to early in the morning." Dick noted, looking at his phone history and seeing that she had been on it for over an hour.
"He has much to say," she countered "and probably barely anyone to share it with."
"What I still dont understand is exactly what it is he wants. He calls me practically every day with the the line that he has something important to tell me."
"Perhaps you will do well to listen to what he has to say." Kory said, braiding her hair to the side. It was in need of a wash and she didn't want to look at it in its current condition any longer.
"He talks about absolutely nothing," Dick said, his attention drawn to the way she braided her hair with little regard. "To me it sounds like mindless talking. Babbling even, like Beast Boy does. Its useless trying to even figure out the point."
"I think," Kory said, pushing the finished braid behind her back. "That if you took the time to listen to what he has to say, you will find that his talking is not as useless as you may think. Whatever it is that he has to tell you means a great deal to him. I, for one, feel that the level of importance varies from person to person. If it is important to him, it is important to me." She was getting a bit fed up with Richard. How could he dismiss Tim so quickly? He had never even seen him?
"But you dont even know him," Dick said, standing up from the bed, his own anger growing, "He's a kid with valuable information on us. For all we know, he could be the one behind all of this."
He was dimly aware that a few things in the room were glowing black; some floating, others making odd sounds as they were stretched in wrong directions. He couldn't understand her. This Tim kid was a threat, just like every other person who had been in contact with them within the last few days. For all he knew, the call she had taken could have been being tracked at the very moment. Tim probably wasn't even a kid; he was probably some old man planning to take over the universe.
"No," Kory said, standing up in front of him and poking him in the chest, "I do not believe that. Tim is not the one behind this."
"How can you be so sure?" Dick asked, his voice rising and his eyes squinting. "We've never met Tim before. Never seen him. He knows more about us than anyone else. For all we know, him and Slade are in this together."
"I just...know!" Kory said, throwing her hands up. How could she explain how she saw Tim; and that he was just an innocent child. "I trust him."
"I dont trust him. The only person whose ever guessed me right was Slade."
"We already know Slade is not behind this," she said exasperated.
"Did he tell you that while he was raping you?"
Everything that had previously been encased in black blew up and he instantly knew he had said the wrong thing. He swallowed, the anger melting away just that quick. Her eyes widened and she turned her back to him, her braid coming out with the lack of something to tie it. He couldn't tell if she had folded her arms or was just holding them around herself, her hair cascading around her protectively. He looked to the floor and around at the trashed room.
Really, it didn't even look like a room anymore. When they had first arrived, it had been bad. When they had kissed that night, it had gotten worse. But now... it was horrendous. As was the tension in the room. Even when he tried, he couldn't get a clear read on her emotions.
"Takori..." he said, taking a step closer to her. She tightened her arms around herself, but she didn't bolt to the bathroom either.
He walked towards her, his steps slow and quiet, only stopping when he was directly behind her. Without warning, she turned, throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder. He held tight to her, brushing her hair and whispering profusely about how sorry he was for bringing up the matter, especially in the manner he did.
When she continued to cry, he picked her up, bridal style and carried her to what was left of the bed. He sat crossed legged, placing her in his lap, continuing brushing her hair and whispering his apologies.
He rested his head on hers, rocking back and forth, his jaw clenched and face set in a frown. This was one of the reasons he couldn't be with her. Just that quick, he had taken away her joy and made her cry. What if something like this had happened before they needed to go out and fight? Would her powers falter because of him? He would positively die if she got hurt- or worse- because of something he did.
He looked towards the boarded up window. It let in little light, but a few rays of sunlight was beginning to filter in through the cracks. He felt drowsy just thinking about the rest of the day. But then again, his drowsiness could have been from the lack of sunlight. Tameranian's needed sunlight to function, and he was half Tameranian now.
Lifting up his head from hers, he looked closer at the window. Something about it, or outside of it rather, caught his attention. He didn't have to say anything, Kory lifted her head, wiped her eyes, and looked to the window as well.
Slowly standing up, Dick grabbed Kory's hand, pulling her to the door quietly. He covered Kory's mouth, expecting her to gasp, when he saw a shadow cover the windows only light, darkening the room. He backed into the door, prepared to take down his security measures but a swift knock came just as his back touched the door.
Kory covered his mouth, knowing he would jump or yelp from fright. Peaking out the peep hole, Dick couldn't see anyone- which was even worse. He backed up away from the door, his hand still covering Kory's mouth and her hand still covering his, and made his way to the bathroom.
Closing the bathroom door behind them, he held in a jump when he heard glass shattering. Probably the window being obliterated.
They still had time, there were still wooden planks up. The bathroom didn't have any windows, but he was sure they were at the edge of the hotel and not in between rooms.
He looked towards the far wall, knowing it needed to be blasted down so that they could make their escape. Without even opening his mouth, Kory held her hands up, allowing them to glow green. Instead of blasting it away though, she let her hands heat up without actually creating a starbolt. The paint and wallpaper quickly melted away and the sheet rock burned brightly, falling away as ashes.
Breaking wood filled Dick's ears and he quickly threw up a shield in front of the bathroom door, just in case. He wasn't sure how strong his shield was nor how long he could hold it especially without meditation, but if it could hold a missile, he supposed it could go up against some other stuff.
A cold wind brushed passed his skin and he turned around just as Kory finished burning away a large hole in the wall. She created a shield for him to stand on, standing on it herself. With determined eyes and her will set, she was able to focus on the disk enough to make it move. Smiling to her self a bit, she grabbed Dick's hand as he got on.
Dick's focus faltered a bit, and he knew someone was trying to break down the door. Luckily though, it wasn't hard to hold the shield under the pressure. He kept it up, its white energy lighting the dark bathroom, until he and Kory were safely out of the building and going top speed towards the train station.
"I. Am. So. Hungry. I. Am. So. Hungry. I. Am. So. Hungry. I wish someone would feed me." Beast Boy sang, his words in the tune of BINGO.
"There was a guy with looks and charm and Beast Boy was his name-o" he continued "Is. So. Hungry. Is. So. Hungry. Is. So. Hungry. He wants some awesome tofu."
Nick shut his eyes tight. The sun was rising, but his nerves were setting. Because Cyborg didn't need to sleep, he talked all through the night and he insisted someone listened. Beast Boy talked and laughed with him, turning into a nocturnal animal for a few minutes if he got sleepy. Raven was able to block all the noise out, including Nick's plea to include him in the silent zone she had gone to. And to add to the fact that he was hurting all over, sore feeling and emotionally and physically numb, he still couldn't get their past conversations out of his head.
Unfortunately, every now and then they'd continue the conversation about his entire past life and even present, coming up with new ways to put him, his brother, and family down. He was running out of ways to defend himself. If this was a physical fight, he'd win. Hands down. But this attack on his alter-ego and family, he was losing at. How could he fight for them, if the others didn't know it was them he was fighting for?
Instead, he opted to curl up in the chair, say his injuries were bothering him, and pretend to be asleep. Yes, he was letting his entire heritage down. Yes, he was sickening his ancestors. Yes, it was killing him to no end, but what could he do? The violent thoughts that kept crossing his mind were no good- they were too obvious...and just plain bad.
"And another thing," Beast Boy said, stopping his never-ending song abruptly, "About those Grayson's."
And here they went again.
"What about them?" Cyborg asked, finally pulling over to a McDonald's so Beast Boy would stop singing.
"You know how they were circus freaks, right?"
"Yeah,"
"Well, what were they planning to do with life after? I mean, it's not exactly like they could go to collage and say, 'Well, I never went to high school, but I was a clown!'"
Both Beast Boy and Cyborg burst out laughing, and Nick not only could not think of a way to stop the noise, the lies, but also figure out why this was even funny. On the road, him and his brother were home schooled. Honor roll students in their online classes. They excelled in math and science. Blew American Nation/Humanities/History out of the water. Passed English with better scores than the teachers did. Even music and art were nothing but hobbies to them.
And the truth was, Nick did think about how his life would have been if his parents had not died. No doubt, him and Dick wouldn't want to be in the circus forever. He wouldn't really want to go to college, of course he'd think about it though. Even now, it was something to think about. But at the same time, Nick wouldn't know what to do with himself if he had to get a normal job. Of course, Bruce was always pushing the 'Wayne Enterprise Heir' thing, but that was still a far off thing.
"Bluuuuuuue Jaaaaaaaaaaay?" Beast Boy said, snapping his fingers in front of Nick's mask. "Dude, Cyborg said 'what do you want to eat?'"
"I'm not hungry," he responded truthfully. How could he eat now? His whole intelligence was being questioned.
"You gotta eat, man." Cyborg said, already beginning to order. "I'll just order you a BIG MEATY BURGER. Ya know, for later."
"NO!" Beast Boy screamed "Just get a muffin...or...or...a salad. Some oranges? Anything BUT MEAT!"
Instead of answering, Nick just nodded his head. Meat. No meat. What did it matter to him? It was food wasn't it. Albeit, unhealthy and greasy food, but food nonetheless.
After ordering, Nick only sipped at his orange juice. His throat was parched and he had just realized how much. The smell of the tea Cyborg brought got Raven out of her meditative state, but she stayed quiet, complaining about Beast Boy's breath silently.
After waking up, she had felt overwhelming emotions. She figured it was Blue Jay giving off such powerful feelings. While Cyborg and Beast Boy talked and laughed, still about those Grayson's, he sat, curled up in the chair, staring off at nothing. Raven had a feeling he was still feeling pretty lousy from his injuries, but soon began to suspect something else was bothering him.
Not bothering to ask, she just focused on her meditating and tea. It was none of her business what was bothering him so much- it was probably their situation anyway.
"And...and..." Cyborg said, struggling to hold in his laugh "I mean, what kind of a nickname is that anyway?"
"Yeah," Beast Boy laughed, "Dick is kind of an exaggeration, isn't it? I bet his mom gave him the nickname. She knew more than anyone, if anyone could act like a dick, it was her own son."
Nick could almost hear his mother turning over in her grave.
"Would you boys mature," Raven said, pulling a but from her cloak "Girls dont do that kind of stuff. If anyone, his father gave him the name."
And thus the laughter began again. And again, Nick's ears almost bled as he was sure he could hear his father turning over in his grave.
Nick tried to force himself to go back to sleep. If he were alone, he might of even went as far as to try and knock himself out. Anything to escape this torture. Anything to stop hearing what it was his friends really thought of him. He imagined their faces once he took off his mask, showing them that he was really the one they were talking about. No doubt, they'd all shut their faces and apologize, expecting him to be his typical self and forgive without a moments notice. He'd wave them off saying 'naw, its cool. You didn't know.' But no, Nick was passed embarrassed now. No, he was angry. Furious even. They talk about the Grayson's, him, like he was nothing but a dead animal on the street...wait no, scratch that, even Beast Boy would have pity on the dead animal. They treated him like he was some freak. Some worthless, leper or something. Someone worth so little of respect that he didn't even deserve pity for his lost parents. Did they even care that their death anniversary was coming up? Of course not.
"And dont even get me started on..."
"Stop!" Nick screamed, cutting off Beast Boy. Enough was enough. How long would he have to sit there and ignore the way they spoke?
He was in the midst covering his ears and just saying 'la la la la laaa laaaaaaa' when his phone pinged with an incoming message. He distantly heard Beast Boy ask why Blue Jay had yelled. He hardly heard as Raven asked the noise level to decrease. And he zoned out as Cyborg questioned his pale skin and odd behavior.
With all the noise and things going on, his head swam. He could hardly focus as he flipped open his phone, the words swimming uselessly in front of him. He blinked a few times, questions of if he was okay floating in one ear and out the other. He was not okay. He couldn't see right and his vision swam. His hands suddenly felt sweaty and he had a killer headache.
"Stop the car." he said, even his voice sounding queasy.
"Man whats up with you?" Cyborg asked, making no move to pull over.
"Does he have a fever?"Raven asked, scooting up putting her hand on Nick's forehead, only to be shrugged off. "He feels clammy."
Looking around Beast Boy found the blanket he had been using. He passed it up to Raven who put it around Blue Jay quickly. Cyborg pressed a button on the dashboard. "This should get his temperature."
"We should have stayed home," Beast Boy said "We told him. I tried, but nooooo. No one listens to me. Im the walking joke. A handsome joke- but a joke! I think-"
"His temp says 104.6" Cyborg read, "Thats definitely a temperature. We may need to get him to a hospital. I can try and find a detour but-"
"You know he wont stay in a hospital," Raven said, looking under her seat for a first aid kit "He'd just escape, making things worse. What we-"
"Seriously dude," Beast Boy continued "If Blue Jay would of just listened to me, he'd be feeling better. I dont think Bumble Bee could even make him stay, and she's just as hardheaded as he is. Really-"
Nick put his hands to his ears. How could anyone, anything, function with this chaos. He wanted to read his message, but he couldn't see the words clearly. He wanted everyone to stop talking- about him, his family, and any other subject that came to mind. He just wanted everything to stop.
The car hit a bump and he could already feel his stomach flip.
"Stop the car." he said again.
Raven fussed over the blanket that he was trying to shrug off. Cyborg has alternating from driving and looking in the glove department for something. Beast Boy continued his rant about being right. And yet none of them seemed to hear Nick's plea.
"-Maybe we should go a little faster," Raven suggested "If we need to get to a hospital, we need to do it now. He looks pale and I dont know how long we'll be able to keep him up. He already looks like he's going to pass out. Couldn't you-"
"-And then we can just find Rob and Star after that," Cyborg said, only aware of his own talking "Our next stop has to be a gas station though, guys. This thing is mostly solar paneled, but it clouded up last night and I need a bit of extra fuel so that-"
"-And then their was that time that Cinderblock had come up behind you, Cyborg." Beast Boy said "Remember, I was the devilishly handsome man who had shouted 'watch out, Cyborg.' Do you remember that? I mean-"
Moments ago, all Nick wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep, but now, closing his eyes only allowed his body to tune into the feeling of the car as it rocked side to side. Ordinarily the feel of movement made him happy and completely calm and at ease, but now, it made his chest clench and bile rise up in his mouth.
"Stop!" he said, for probably the billionth time. "Pull. Over. This. Car."
"Man," Cyborg started "We get it, you dont want-"
"No!" Nick said, determined to speak. "Unless you want you floor and dashboard redecorated, I suggest you pull over and let. Me. Out."
Cyborg had no choice by to pull to the side of the highway. It seemed as if Blue Jay would toss himself if Cyborg didn't. Blue Jay got out quickly and walked away from the car. Cyborg tapped the steering wheel, glancing in the rear view mirror only to see Blue Jay hacking over the side of the safety rails.
No one spoke; there was nothing to say. Cyborg wouldn't say he was 'hurt' Blue Jay had yelled and all but jumped on Cyborg's lap and steered the car himself to the side, but he was concerned. Normally, Blue Jay was the exact opposite of Robin. He was normally happy and cheerful, never one to get upset over things. And yet, here he was, blowing a gasket and throwing up over the side of the road.
Dick put his phone back in his pocket. Normally, Nick responded to his text messages quickly. Dick pushed away the thought that something bad might have happened and focused on trying not to fall off of the shield. Kory seemed pretty confident steering the shield, all Dick had to do was hold the shield up, making sure it didn't fall out of the sky.
"Lets land here, Kory." he said, standing up.
It almost felt like being on a surfboard, only, the shield seemed a lot more stable. But as Kory brought it down, Dick found it hard to keep his concentration. They hadn't gone above the dark clouds, allowing the charge of a thunderstorm to fill the air. Dick wasn't necessarily at peace while they were so close to potential lightning. Lightning that was drawn to positive electrons; especially since he and Kory were positive electrons.
Kory took them down near a group of misplaced trees. Dick doubted anyone had noticed them, which was odd, considering they were on a bright, glowing, white disk.
The train still didn't leave for another 20 minutes or so, and Bludhaven's streets seemed extremely empty. No one ran down the sidewalk, screaming or laughing. No one lay in the street, half bleeding, half trying to kill someone else. No, the only thing in the streets were trash. A soda can skipped across the street and a piece of paper flittered into a murky puddle.
Kory grabbed his hand, taking in the deserted streets as well.
Dick crossed the street, and made his way to a corner store. It was still early and he needed at least a bite to eat.
Going into the store, he saw that that too was deserted. As Kory wondered to the back of the store, Dick looked over the counter, seeing no one there. Carefully, he allowed his mind to open up, but the only people he sensed in the store was himself and Kory.
Still, he walked down the small isles of the store slowly, his hands tingling with raw energy. If someone was to sneak up on him, he'd blast the person with a power he couldn't even control. It was dangerous and risky to use Kory's powers, but he had left his bo-staff home, his favorite weapon.
He wondered down a isle that sold cheap shampoo. He couldn't help his mind wondering back to earlier that morning. Someone had broken into their hotel room, and someone had knocked on their door at the exact same moment.
It could have been some neighboring hobo who thought he could get a night in a bed, or, it could have been some mysterious person who wanted them dead. His bet was on someone who wanted him dead...unless, this particular hobo was skilled in martial arts because that would be the only way he could get passed Dick's make shift security system.
It angered him that none of his questions were answered. Not who was out to get him. Not who this mysterious 'master' was. Not why him and Kory were targeted out of the rest of the titans. He hated to admit it, but he did kind of need Bruce's help. Him and Bruce hadn't been on the same page for a while, and Dick knew it looked bad on his part to only go and resolve things between the two because he needed help, but what else was he supposed to do?
Dick took a deep breath. The last thing he needed was to blow the entire store up because he had gotten angry.
He was nearly to the end of the isle when he stopped. He turned to look at the different shampoo's. Each was a different color, each had a different specialty, but...each was in English. Minus one. It amazed even him sometimes when his mind caught things his body didn't even notice.
He looked up when he saw Kory make her way down the isle he was in. She held two waters and a few bags of chips. He could tell she was frightened by the whole 'empty town' situation just by looking at her face. She stood beside him, trying to figure out exactly why the shampoo's were captivating his attention.
"Look," he said, picking up the bottle, "It's the only bottle not in English."
Kory raised a brow at him. "Perhaps this is paranoia, Richard." she softly.
"Normally," he said, turning the bottle over a few times "I'd agree with you; but this is in Romanian. My language."
"Maybe it was misplaced," she said. She really hoped it was.
"Feriti. Noi nu am uitat de tine." Dick read.
"Beware, we haven't forgotten about you." Kory translated.
She looked over his shoulder and sure enough, that was exactly what the cover said. It wasn't the typical 'strawberry scented' title she was used to seeing, but who knew, maybe this was a new brand.
"And," Richard said, showing her the back "It has Tameranian writing on it."
And thus she was proved wrong.
How could someone know that Richard was going to go down this isle? How could someone know that he would spot the shampoo and not just walk right by it? Whatever was going on was wrong in her eyes.
She jumped into Dick when she heard something crash behind her. He locked his arms around her, prepared to protect, only to see that nothing was attacking them. She admitted it, at the moment, she was deathly frightened. She had truly believed they were alone this whole time. Her first instincts told her to run out of the store, unfortunately though, Richard never ran from anything. Quite the contrary actually, he went towards the sound.
He kept his hands firmly locked around her waist, as he made his way out the isle and towards the back of the store. He could feel Kory's shallow breathing. Part of the reason he continued to hold her was because he was afraid she'd flee from the store if anything were to come up.
He kept his eyes peeled and his mind still open. It was odd, he had been so sure they were alone in the store.
He stopped in his tracks when he realized what had caused the noise: just a fallen, empty, cardboard box. The box was halfway dented, a door towards some storage room crushing the side of it. The box was just barely holding the door open, and of course, Dick had to find out just who put the box there to keep the box from shutting.
"Lets go in." he whispered in her ear.
He moved forward, but Kory put her feet down. He seemed to be having no trouble pushing her forwards though and Kory cursed her own lack of strength.
Slowly, he moved the box to the side with his foot and stepped around it. Kory turned quickly, pushing on Dick's chest in a last minute attempt to sway his mind. Going into a dark storage room was bad news. Who she really needed was Beast Boy, he'd be on her side about this.
And yet, Dick didn't waver a bit as he effortlessly walked into the dark room with Kory still pushing in front of him.
Surprisingly, the storage room was a lot bigger (and darker) than either Dick or Kory would have expected. Large boxes where stacked to the ceiling in random places. The high ceiling led up to a large glass window, it's black beams that crisscrossed below them, giving the design of checkers.
"I believe it is empty," Kory said, smiling brightly and turning to leave, "Let us leave now."
She had hardly made it a step before Dick grabbed her arm and continued to make his way further into the room.
She really couldn't understand why this was necessary. It was just a empty room...no need to further investigate. No need to put themselves in even more danger. She turned to tell Dick just what was on her mind (even though she had no doubt he already knew) but turned to empty space. In a brief moment of terror, she spun around numerous times, in an attempt to locate him.
She blamed herself really, everyone knew Dick had a tendency to pull a ninja and disappear, seemingly out of thin air sometimes. She had been so caught up in her mind that she hadn't realized he had left. She could sense his presence near, so she was able to prevent herself from hyperventilating, but she was pretty sure he'd find it more beneficial if they split up.
Blowing out a breath of annoyance at his ways, she made her way the opposite direction she felt him the strongest. As long as the place was empty, which it had seemed to be but obviously wasn't, she'd be alright.
She kept her hands clutched to her chest as she weaved in and out of stacks of boxes. It was a maze in here and if she hadn't known Dick's exact position, she'd of freaked out long ago. Each one of her footsteps seemed to echo all around her. She felt as if she were stomping, or screaming her position every step.
The sound of a falling box nearly sent her screaming back in Dick's direction, but she was able to smother her cries with her hands. She wondered if it was Dick who had caused the fall somehow, but quickly told herself that that idea was stupid. He probably didn't even hear it.
She broadened her shoulders. For crying out loud, she was a titan. A warrior. She trained with the best masters and did the hardest courses at Okarra. She had pinned Robin at least twice in her life- even if he got out of them in less than 5 seconds. She had practically nothing to fear.
Still, she tip-toed towards the sound of the noise.
It was obvious to see that there was a woman on the ground struggling, but it took Kory a moment to figure out that she was trapped under a mountain of boxes, stuck. Kory cleared her throat, so's not to startle the woman.
The woman's head snapped up to Kory, but immediately softened when she saw there was no threat.
"Oh, dear," she sighed "Give me a hand here, wont you."
Kory relaxed at the woman's tone. It was kind and soft, the way a mother would talk to a child. As she began pulling boxes off of the woman, the woman began to chuckle to herself.
"I was looking for my husband," she laughed "Lord only knows why he would be in this dingy place, but as you can see, I leaned a little too heavy on one of these stacks. Hey, do you know where all the people are? This place was scary enough with them."
Kory shook her head, pushing a large box to the side, "No, my friend and I were most creeped out by the sight as well."
"Where is your friend?" she asked, kindly "It would probably be better if the two of you stayed together."
"Oh," Kory said, her own little side comments cast aside, "I can always find him."
With one last box pushed aside, the woman was able to squeeze out from them. She stood up and Kory was able to get a good look at her. She had long black hair that spiraled into natural curls at the end. Her blue eyes showed youth, but she clearly was somewhere in her early-mid 30's. But her smile was the noticeable feature about her. She wore a pale pink, floral sun dress that stopped just past her knees, with matching gladiator sandles to go with it.
"Thank you so much. Those boxes can be a killer on a girls back." she said, stretching.
Kory blinked. A small, familiar feeling, was suddenly creeping up her spine. She couldn't quite determine what exactly the feeling was, but suddenly, she was looking at the woman strangely. The midnight black hair. The brighter than the sky blue eyes. Witty personality. Kind, motherly attitude.
Kory's breath caught.
Dick rolled out of the way as a stack of boxes fell behind him. The boxes in this room were extremely unstable and pretty heavy...for a box. So far, they were all empty, but then, so was the room he was searching.
Boxes didn't just put themselves in doors, somebody had to have done that. Huffing, he came to the conclusion that the person must have been long gone. It probably wasn't anyone important anyway. He was just so tired of running from people. He needed answers and fast. He had figured that catching someone who was out to kill him would be a start.
He was in the midst of going to find Kory, when his breath caught. He squinted his eyes and looked around himself. As far as he could see, nothing was out of the ordinary.
He flinched, suddenly hearing Kory's piercing scream echo in the room. He ran blindly, weaving in and out of box stacks, some falling to the floor in his haste. He felt around with his mind, locating her easily.
She was standing, completely stiff and paralyzed, in front of a dark-haired woman.
Dick's first instincts were to get Kory away from the woman, but the woman seemed just as frantic as he was at trying to calm Kory down. She spotted Dick and waved him over frantically.
"I'm going to assume your her friend." she said, her voice loud, so that Dick could hear over Kory's terrified shrieking. "I dont know whats wrong. We were talking and she just started freaking out."
Dick was hardly paying attention to the woman. He placed his arms on Kory's shoulder, and backed her up until her back was against a metal beam that led to the beams across the ceiling. Kory's screaming slowly subsided, but she kept her eyes on the woman.
"You okay?" he asked, drawing her attention away from the woman and to him.
Kory shook her head frantically, "No, no, no. I am not okay, Richard. I-"
She was stopped by his thumb over her lips.
"Take a deep breath." he told her.
Kory glanced back at the woman. She was fidgeting, leaning on one leg, and then switching to the other. She looked as if she wanted to come over and help Kory herself. Kory was positive that this was wrong. Richard wouldn't lie to her.
"Take a deep breath." Dick reminded her, and Kory did, actually feeling better.
"Tell me whats wrong." he asked her, loud enough for her to hear, but low enough so the woman couldn't.
"Turn around," she whispered.
For a moment, he looked at her skeptically. But slowly, he turned around, only to back up frantically into her.
"What is wrong with you kids?" the woman asked, "You look like you've seen a ghost or something. Come on, we need to get you out of this air and-" she froze, staring Dick in his eyes.
Kory wiggled from behind Dick, who was squishing her to no end. Never in her life had she seen Dick look so terrified. Not with Slade. Or Joker. Or when he was slashed in his stomach. His eyes were wide and bright, but his skin was so pale it closely resembled Raven's. His mouth was agape and he looked as if he would run any minute.
"Richard?" the woman asked, but it only made Dick push himself against the metal beam harder. Her soft, sweet voice brought back millions of good memories to him. Memories of his childhood and of playing happily with his brother. Memories of being happy and having do cares in the world.
It seemed as if his mind processed the fact that the harder he pushed into the beam, the faster the woman would disappear.
"Richard, its me." the woman said, stepping closer.
Dick pushed against the beam so hard he slipped to the ground. He was just glad the beam was strong. There was no way he was seeing this. No way this woman was here. No way Kory could see this woman. She was a figment of both of theirs imagination. He was not seeing her. She didn't look like she had aged a bit, but that was only because she wasn't real. Memories were always left the way you remember them. This was not real.
He was not seeing his mother.
A/N: Yes, a twist in the game. I know, i know...IM CRAZY, you dnt have to remind me. Anyway, Plz R&R you know the deal. BTW, read my other W.I.P. (work in progress) 'As the world falls Around us'. So far, I think people like it.