Author's Note: Yay, the sequel to "dead of night"! I don't want to give too much away, but keep in mind that this story will involve violence, death, explicit sexual content, strong language, and a whole lotta angst. But that's what we're here for… right?
I will be taking a lot of inspiration from the Starfire comics (2015) and of course, Red Hood and the Outlaws. And whatever miscalleanous canon I see fit.
Don't expect the same structure of "dead of night" in terms of the story, and especially the love triangle.
Thank you for sticking with me! I hope you enjoy!
"Enjoying the city?"
His face and smile are so handsome that it almost hurts to look at. She drops her gaze to her lap, giggling before floating up in the air.
"It is quite marvelous, especially from up here." She lands back onto the edge of the rooftop, crossing her arms behind her. "I can see why you choose to stay here."
Another brilliant smile. She matches it. "So, I was told you need some advice?"
"Yes, yes," she nods playfully. "I believe you are the only one who can truly understand my situation."
"Of course. As I've heard, Koriand'r."
She laughs in surprise, gently floating down to sit on the edge of the skyscraper as he joins her. "I was not expecting you to know my name."
"Your friend — excuse me, our friend — he spoke very fondly of you."
Her heart grows at least three sizes. "You are blessed to have him by your side."
"He's been nothing but a great help. From
my understanding, you two have worked together for a long time."
"Not as long as we would have liked. Unfortunately, our time together was cut short. My old home here on Earth, there is no reason for me to return to it."
His expression is serious now, almost intimidatingly so. "I understand. You don't know where to go from here?"
She exhales deeply. "I have been asking many friends of mine… you know… from Earth…" Why did she feel the need to whisper that? "Earthlings, if you will."
She sees him trying to hold in his laugh, so she tries to hold in hers. "They do not understand how difficult it is for me to assimilate! Tell me please, how did you do it?!"
He looks off into the distance, as if reminiscing. "I may not have been born here, but I was raised here, just like anyone else. I lived a very normal life despite who I am, what I can do. I understand humans because I was brought up by two amazing ones."
"So you are completely fluent in the workings of this world, yes?" She taps her index fingers together. "I know some amazing humans myself," she adds almost wistfully.
"Yes… in terms of societal norms, finances, work, culture, and everything in between… but the vulnerability of being physically human, it's not something I truly know. I witness that vulnerability everyday. I protect it."
She nods slowly, awed by his conviction. "I am not so sure I can be a superhero anymore."
The look he gives her is one of understanding. It eases the sinking feeling between her ribs. "It's not easy."
"I want to experience… life!" It bursts out of her, arms up in the air. She drops them down to her lap and pouts. "Where can I go, where can I live?"
"Hmm… I'm assuming you would want to be somewhere warm?"
"I require sunlight!"
He laughs. "Of course."
"Around people… people that will not judge me,
or expect me to save them…"
"Somewhere where the people are open-minded, accepting."
"Yes!" A rush of excitement goes through her. When was the last time she felt this understood? She grabs her bag beside her and digs out a large map, to which he raises his brows.
"Hm. Haven't used one of those in awhile."
She gives it to him, wide-eyed like a helpless cat as she tucks her fidgeting hands between her thighs.
He dimples his cheek after scanning it thoroughly, her heart racing by the time he speaks again. "I think I know where you can go. Listen…"
After an undetermined amount of time being told riveting tales of a city by the sea with colors unlike anywhere else, she sees a new life blossoming in her mind. One of bright lights and promise. Perhaps she can find a home on Earth… all on her own.
"I shall allow you to go on being spectacular." She ascends into the air, holding her hands to her chest. "I thank you."
"I'm happy I could help. If you have any questions, just let me know, okay?"
"Hmm…" she taps her chin. "I have one."
"Yes?"
"May I embrace you?"
"Uhhh, su—"
She does not let him finish — she is so overwhelmed with gratitude that she squeezes his shoulders tight. She finds that his strength is most definitely beyond hers.
"I hope to meet with you again, Kal-El." She giggles at his look of surprise and winks. "Send Victor my regards!"
"Good luck!" he calls to her as she goes higher and higher into the night sky, the stars shining bright around her despite the endless lights of the city, waving a goodbye as she goes to her next life.
It's way more humid than it should be in the middle of May, and life has been a living Hell the last few months, so he graces Babs' little apartment with dirt and sweat and maybe a little bit of blood.
"Ew," was the first thing she said. "Go shower."
"Gladly."
That was about an hour ago — he's too busy with the takeout she ordered to even breathe. He wolfs it down because when was the last time he got to eat in a relatively safe place?
She gets him a tall glass of water and he gulps it down, his legs bouncing rapidly as he leans forward in his seat. He stares down at her fluffy blue slippers, thinking of every single thing he could say to make his life make sense.
"You need to sleep," she says softly.
He chuckles and leans back, scrubbing his unshaven face. "This is seriously so fucking annoying, Babs."
"You want anything else? Are you still hungry?"
"I'm fine for now, thanks."
"How long do you think you'll stay? Stay as long as you want. Do you need more clothes?"
He only packed one extra set of clean clothes. He picks at his sweats. "Only for the night. I'll probably be gone before you wake up."
"I have to wake up early for work tomorrow. You're free to stay."
He smiles lazily at her. Her glasses are huge and dorky. "I don't have much time."
She places a hand over her chest. "You don't wanna wait for me to get back and watch movies with meeeeeee?"
"I'd much rather do that," he blinks his bleary eyes. "Trust me."
She rolls her eyes and walks towards the kitchen. "You better make the damn time for me." She looks over her shoulder and smirks. "Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?"
He still feels parched. "Water."
"Got ya."
She hands him his glass and holy shit, have his insides turned into a desert? "You make some damn fine water, miss," he says, sinking into his seat and rubbing his belly.
"Only for you, sir." She opens the fridge and all he hears is the rattling of too many jars. The crazy thing is, he's so tired it's almost lulling him to sleep. His eyes are getting too heavy.
"What're you lookin' for?" he mumbles, blinking blearily at her.
"None of your business."
"Shutup."
The next second, his cheeks are being pulled and pinched, and he tries to bite down on her thumb but he only scrapes it with his teeth. "Ow, Babsh, shtop!"
"You're really trying to bite the hand that feeds you, huh? And I know you wanna make fun of my glasses…" He hates that his face twitches into what's supposed to be a smile, because she ends up grabbing his nose and rattling his head from side to side. "Asshole! Everyone else told me they were cute! You know they are!"
Some weird almost-snort comes out of him, and before she can retaliate, he grabs her wrists and tosses her into the chair as he stands. She blinks rapidly. "What just happened?"
"You tell me, Ms. I-Know-Everything."
She's quick enough to slap at his hand, trying to hold back a smile. "I'll make you sleep on the street tonight! Don't try me!"
He gets in real close, hands on either arm of the chair, meeting the challenge in her eyes. It feels like everything he's been needing since he left.
Dick has been missing for months, Victor has joined the… what do they call it… the League of Justice, and Raven has just recently entered a state of… spiritual suspension that Garfield had insisted on overseeing.
In other words, she is alone.
She misses her friends dearly, and the worry only grows inside of her as the days go by. It has not even been a week since she was advised to leave the Tower — "Star, I'm not sure if it's safe for you. I'm going to stay and make sure Rae's alright." — Though she disagreed with how Garfield has decided to handle the situation, who is she to keep him from potentially putting himself in harm's way?
That is love. She sighs.
Too much has gone wrong.
"All I can do now… is move forward. And hope for the best," she says to the morning star. "Right?"
Humans are not able to look straight at the sun. It damages their eyes, but not hers. The sight of its color, warmth, power, it comforts her, reminds her of how much she loves this little planet called Earth. If she can appreciate it and love it without having been created on it… does she not deserve to simply be upon it?
She basks in the rising sun, palms open and resting upon her crossed legs. She thinks of Raven and feels her stomach lurch. She blinks and sees Dick's eyes, telling her goodbye.
Her body unfurls as she leans back against the random rooftop she had chosen to rest upon. No, she can never meditate, never relax when she needs to recuperate.
She exhales sharply and grabs for her bag, opening a smaller compartment. The device is unused, cold. She cradles it in her hands. Flips it open and stares at her reflection on the black screen.
Her communicator — when was the last time she used it? If she called, would anyone pick up? Didn't she prevent a future such as this?
She strokes the screen, as if pleading for a call. Or for the courage to make one.
"I pray that one day we are all together once more."
Before she begins to cry — oh no, it is too late, a single tear drips down her face — she takes her map and spreads it over her lap, tracing her finger over the place Kal-El had been kind enough to tell her about.
I am almost there. I feel so tired. I hope I can rest properly once I arrive.
But where could she go? How do you begin a new life in a place where you no longer had the luxury of friends to guide you every step of the way?
"I will make it." A vision flutters across her mind's eye. "I will survive." One where the sun beams down on her while she lays upon the whitest sands. "I have no choice."
Oh, Raven. May X'hal protect you.
She watches the silent sky, the darkness bleeding away into complete light.
Dick… you, as well. All of my dear friends. X'hal, I beg of you to watch over them.
Like a whisper of wind, she hears it. Something that sounds like her name, but it is too far away — she freezes in place and holds her breath, listening in.
Who could have found her here?! Is that…
"Starfire." It seems to echo in her mind. Like a thought that does not belong to her.
"Starfire," the voice goes. "Koriand'r." Like a radio clearing of static, it goes again, gradually becoming louder, more discernible. "Starfire."
An image flashes across her mind, violet eyes blinking open. She gasps as it all clicks together.
"Raven!" she says breathlessly, one hand covering her mouth, the other clutching her chest. I've been so worried about you! I did not know you could hear me!
"Starfire," Raven's voice sounds urgent. "I don't have much time."
What is it? Do you need help? I'll come as soon as I can!
"No, I'm okay. Don't worry." Her voice seems to be fading in and out. She wills it to stay. "I need to warn you."
And in her mind, a scene flickers. Blood pooling. Heat. Skin losing its color.
Her own head, twisted to the side. Her own eyes, pale and lifeless.
A man's voice. Panicked. Broken.
"What?" she breathes. "What?!"
"Be careful," Raven says. "Be safe."
Please, what am I meant to do with this information? Raven?!
"I'll do everything I can. I have to go."
"Raven!" she cries. "Don't go!"
But all that remains is the silence and her tears.
Leaving in the morning.
Somehow, even Bird Brain's texts are annoying. They're too perfect and he started to do this thing where he ends every sentence with a period. It's too formal and too weird and he's hung up about it because he would rather focus on literally anything else than where he is right now.
At least it's dark and cold in here.
He responds with a single k and takes a swig from his beer. He's trying to eat and drink better or whatever. So he decided not to get hard liquor, the way he usually does. Something that Harper has been bugging him about since they got to this city a few months back.
He dares to turn around in his seat at the bar to check up on the man himself, who seems to think it's totally not douchey or corny to flex his muscles while he's showing off his tattoos. But the girl Harper's been flirting with all night seems to be eating it right up, so he won't talk shit just yet.
So he'll save all his shit talking for tomorrow night.
He downs the rest of his beer and leaves a nice tip for the bartender, who has a cute smile and those weird dimple piercings that he kinda digs. He could get some if he wants to, but he hasn't been feeling it for whatever reason. Harper thinks he's "gay and/or depressed."
Unfortunately, his life for the past year has been work, eat, sleep, and be endlessly tormented by Roy Harper. He has genuinely questioned whether or not Roy Harper was just a figment of his imagination. For a split second, he was willing to see a shrink just to make sure.
But Roy Harper is very much real. And Roy Harper catches his expression, the one that's done with this bar, thinking that his over exaggerated "stay a bit longer" gesture would maybe work this time — but it never does.
Jason Todd, who is also very much real, shakes his head and juts his chin towards the exit.
When he gets on his feet and feels his blood rush warm down his legs, because actually he had like four beers and he's got a buzz going on, he has to stop for a second, and then it happens.
His ears go stuffy like the music has been too loud for too long, but it hasn't been the case all night, and especially not now. He hears nothing but a faint ring. No voices, no footsteps, no clinking glasses. Slowly, he looks around.
Empty.
Is this another psychic attack? His heart starts to pound with the fear, but he remains calm. It's only pain if he resists. Though a part of him felt that this wasn't really an attack, but a message.
I don't have time for this shit. Get to the point.
Immediately, moonlight floods through the open windows and open door. Like a path. Trying not to look like a psychopath to the outside world, he walks calmly through and then out into the night. The moonlight turns onto the next path — it curls around the building, and he follows it into the parking lot, where untouched cars create another path down the middle of it.
Up ahead, he can see a figure on the ground, barely illuminated. He gets the feeling he needs to see it up close for himself.
What the fuck is going on?
He doesn't even realize he's halfway there 'til he is, 'cause it's like he's not even controlling himself anymore. He can tell now — it's a girl. A woman. She has long hair. He can't tell the color, because with each step he takes, it slowly burns away to black.
The fire that's her hair crackles, a deep orange, almost red.
Red. Like the blood leaking down her face as he turns her over. And he knows it's not real, he knows it's not…
He takes her face into his hands, his heart already sunk past the fucking ground. Her neck is… unnaturally loose, her body as limp as a ragdoll, and god, her skin is so cold despite the flame that's creeping up closer to her head.
"Kori?" he whispers, wiping blood off her cheek only for it to be replaced, something both too bright and almost inhumanly dark.
What the fuck are you showing me this for?!
"Kori," he says again, this time with the amount of dread that fills his gut. The doubt that this isn't just a vision — that he's failed her again, let her die alone, and the thought becomes unbearable inside of him.
"End this," he growls to the empty sky.
Then a voice, so faint he more feels it than hears it. "Protect her."
Then the night comes back alive, and he's alone in the parking lot, no girl dead in his arms.
Whatever connection she had to Raven, she is unable to reestablish. She has faith that things, for now, are under control. However, the tightness lingers deep in her belly.
She only grows more restless as she soars through the sky, watching as the architecture below changes. The night is illuminated by the city lights below, all different colors. They should excite her.
Slowly, she is going down, the weight of her anxiety proving to be too heavy. She descends onto an empty lot. Perhaps she can find a place to rest before she continues on in the morning.
She walks out of the emptiness and into a street filled with chatter and life. People of all different colors, wearing clothes that are rather pleasing to the eye and comfortable for the humidity that permeates in the air. The whole sidewalk seems to be filled with restaurants. She watches, fascinated by the vast range of people sitting outside and walking about. Though it quickly begins to overwhelm her.
She looks down at her own body. She has long ago gotten used to the fact that her appearance is rather odd. While she normally would not mind, she now finds herself riddled with the fear of standing out.
She had long ago rid of her old uniform — she now adorns a top with long sleeves that exposes all of her stomach, shorts that allow for a wide range of movement, and boots that reach the middle of her thighs, all in her favorite shade of purple. She grasps the green stone in the center of her chest, wishing she weren't so alone.
She hides behind the corner of a building, gripping the wall. What shall I do? I'm too tired to go any further…
Perhaps she shall spend some time in one of these restaurants? She is rather hungry…
Taking a few deep breaths, she braces herself and steps onto the street, her eyes immediately drawn to the prettiness of all the artificial lights. She already feels the stares — but instead of slinking away, she ignores them, and walks forward.
She hears what may or may not be people — men — attempting to get her attention. She is simply in no mood.
She allows herself to be drawn to wherever interests her. She sees a different variety of cuisines, and a whole myriad of colors that somehow compliment each other. Sweet smelling smoke seems to surround her, along with the smell of fresh food that makes her stomach growl.
"Hmmm… what shall I eat?" she mumbles to herself, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she looks back and forth, not particularly interested in one single place.
Until she smells pizza.
She stops in front of the restaurant, a big grin splitting her face. "Yes!" She claps.
She receives a few looks and giggles timidly, a sort of apology for startling strangers. But then her eyes land on one, sitting all by himself, so seemingly engrossed in thought that it intrigues her.
As she walks inside the restaurant, she finds it hard to break her gaze away from him. A hat covers most of his face. His fingers drum against a glass.
She shakes herself out of this sudden stupor and enters, her mouth immediately watering. She points out every single thing she wants, growing more and more excited at the prospect of simply eating, and she pays with the money that was kindly given to her by Victor.
The man behind the counter looks amused at her excitement. Though his smile fades into shock when she receives her many slices of pizza and she takes a large bite from one.
"It's so… hot…"
"I thank you deeply!" she says, waving. "Have a wonderful night!"
When she exits with her tray full of beautifully delicious pizza slices, she spots him right away. She crinkles her brows and pouts, wondering what she should do.
Is this the best idea? She shrugs. If he were to do anything, I could always stop him…
She drops her tray onto the table and sits across from him. Strangely enough, he does not look up right away. "Hello," she says softly.
When he looks up, she finally gets to see what are probably the most beautiful brown eyes she has ever seen. His eyebrows seem to disappear under his hat, though. "Um… hello?"
"I apologize for my intrusion. I noticed that you were rather… lonely."
"O-oh…"
His skin is beautifully tan, with a dark stubble shading his jaw. Has she ever been this enamored with a stranger?
"I am lonely, too." She drops her chin into her hand, a sad smile stretching her lips. "I am far away from my friends. But I hope I can make more along this journey."
He chuckles. "You're not from around here, are you?" His voice is delectably smooth.
She grins. "Not from Earth, no. Is it quite obvious?"
"If you're not just saying that, then yeah."
She giggles, a renewed lightness in her chest. "My name is Koriand'r, but you may call me Kori."
"Like the herb?"
She tilts her head to the side. "Like the what?"
"Whatever. That's a pretty name." He extends his hand. "My name is Sol."
She shakes his hand gently. "That is also a pretty name."
He laughs, but it almost sounds confused. She has a good feeling about Sol.
Perhaps she can create something out of nothing here.