Part A
The room was dark except for the flickering light from a lone candle. The solitary figure in the room was awake and waiting for something. He listened to the thunder outside, the sound of wind whistling through the trees. And he smiled to himself when he heard his door open.
"Robin." The voice was hesitant, quiet and very feminine. And right on time, as another bolt of lightning flashed and another rumble of thunder sounded.
"Come in Star." He scooted over on his bed, allowing room for Starfire to join him. She looked behind her, in the hallway before she came in, shut the door, and then ran straight to the bed, hiding under the covers, just as more thunder crashed.
"EEEK!" Starfire inched closer to Robin, burying her head against his chest. He laughed and put an arm around her. For as long as he had known her, Starfire had hated storms with a passion. She was terrified of them. It became a ritual, whenever a storm happened by, sometime in the night, Starfire would run over to Robin's room and stay with him during the storm. If anyone else knew about it, they didn't say anything; knowing how much trouble Robin and Starfire would get in if they were caught.
"It's alright Star. The storm can't hurt you."
"I know." The words were low and muffled in the chest of Robin's nightshirt. He held tighter to the girl and pulled the blanked more snugly around them.
"Are you going to tell me why you are afraid of storms?"
She just shook her head. Robin bit back a sigh, and then leaned his head against the headboard. She was shaking, obviously terrified. This time was worse than the others.
"If you could have any super power what would it be?" It was a game they played, making up stories of what they would do if they had superpowers. Starfire loved doing it, and she told the best stories; Robin liked seeing Starfire happy.
She didn't answer, just burrowed deeper into his embrace.
"Starfire. Would you want to be invisible, or move things with your mind? Maybe you'd want to change into any animal, or be able to understand every language ever spoken?"
Robin was rubbing her arm as he spoke, anything to try and comfort her. He finally felt Starfire relax enough to answer.
"I would want to fly. I want to be able to see everything from way up high, I want to fly higher than the birds, and see what they see. I want to see what the other side of the clouds look like."
The two just talked about where Starfire would go if she were able to fly, all the things she would see. Finally the storm passed by and all was quiet in the outside world. The two were cocooned in the blanket, Starfire lying on Robin's chest, still curled against his side. Her breathing was evening out, signaling her descent into sleep. Robin held onto her, and then followed her into oblivion.
A loud crash of thunder woke Kori up. She looked at the clock to find it was only twelve-thirty in the morning. The wind was blowing through the trees and. She sat up in bed, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly to her. She hated storms, always had. She realized that she was still in her dreaming mind-set.
She thought back to the dream, wondering why she had to have it now. It wasn't a dream, but really a memory. It had to have been fifteen years since it happened. She remembered, the only time she ever felt safe during a storm was curled up with Richard, no he was Robin then, curled up with him in his bed. He had the ability to hold the world at bay.
Kori looked out her window and saw that the wind wasn't blowing. She got up and pulled on her robe, then walked over to her window, only to find that the sky clear, not a cloud in sight. That meant that wasn't thunder she heard. Kori swung around and found a shadow silhouetted in her doorway. Her body tensed as the figure took a step forward.
"Hello Starfire." The voice was feminine, but it was cold and edgy.
"Hello Terra."
Part B
Across town, Raven woke up when she heard a noise in her house. That could not have been possible because nobody could get past her security system. She strained her ears, trying to hear anything out of the ordinary.
After not hearing anything for a few minutes, Raven lie back down and tried to go back to sleep. But right then, she heard the noise again. She bolted upright, straining her eyes and ears for anything. Finally she closed her eyes and concentrated, allowing her senses to find anything. Raven knew every inch of her house. She knew where everything was, every chair, every picture, everything. She knew when something was off, it disrupted the feeling of her home. And something was off.
Pulling on a long dark gray robe, Raven got up and left her room, not turning on any lights, not making any noise, still letting her senses guide her. When she reached her living room, she felt the most off balance. Something was not right.
She heard a rustling behind her and saw someone running just out of her field of vision. Raven would have followed but a red light in her peripheral caught her eye. She turned slowly towards it; already knowing what it was in the back of her mind, but not accepting it. She slowly walked towards the red light. When she reached it, she gasped. It is a ball with an 'S' etched into it. She knew what it was; it was the same thing that was thrown at Richard and Kori while they were in the café. Raven turned around and started running, not knowing how much time she had until the bomb was set to go off. She just knew that she had to try and get out of the house. She reached the door, and nothing happened, she got outside, still no detonation. She stopped at the end of her drive, on the other side of her car, and turned around. And the house exploded.
She covered her head and dropped to the ground. She felt debris hit her on the back, and she felt the heat from the explosion. When things stopped falling, she looked up at what remained of her house. There was nothing there. Small fires were still blazing, and there was a little bit of recognizable objects left, but all in all, her home was completely destroyed.
Slowly, Raven stood up and started walking to her nearest neighbor's house, almost a mile away. The road cut into her feet, and she could feel blood drip from the scratches she received from flying debris. By the time she reached her neighbor's house, she was sore and about to drop from exhaustion.
Raven knocked on the door, wincing as her palm hit the wooden edifice. She looked down and saw a piece of wood was lodged in her hand. She stared at it in a daze when the door opened and the light blinded her. She realized that someone was there, staring at her, wondering what she was doing at the door at that time of night. She knew she had to say something.
"Would you mind if I borrowed your phone. I can't seem to find mine."
Part C
Kori stared at Terra. Neither moved from their spot. Kori held tighter to her robe, knowing that it would never stand as a buffer against Terra should she choose to attack.
"To what do I owe the honor of this nocturnal visit, Terra?"
The other woman lifted her lips in a perverted parody of a smile, and took one step inside the room. She was wearing a pair of black jeans that hugged her body like a second skin, tucked inside a pair of boots that reached her knees. Her shirt was short sleeved and black with bright yellow out-lining, and it showed off her stomach and the chain she had around her middle. Around her biceps, she wore metal bands. She had a metal choker around her neck, with spikes. Her blond hair was loose around her shoulders, and parted on the side, covering part of her face. She had a blue headband in her hair.
"Can't I just stop and chat with an old friend?"
"Did you chat with Alex and June, too?"
"Yeah, we caught up on what was happening in life, reminisced about old times. It was…fun." Her voice was cheerful and so much like the Terra that Kori remembered, it was hard to reconcile the memory with what stood before her now.
"Fun. Do you usually have fun before you butcher people who are supposed to be your friends?"
"When those friends tried to kill me, yeah, that's how I have fun with them." Terra sounded as if this was something Kori should have already known. "However, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to kill you that way. You, I'm going to save for someone else. Another person whom you betrayed. Really Starfire, if you are going to kill someone, you really have to make sure the job was actually done. But then, you never could stomach that aspect of things, could you? You really were pathetic. You would rather talk than fight. Starfire the pacifist."
"I do not think that participating in the merciless killing of innocent people is called pathetic. And we did not try to kill you. You were free to join us against Slade, but you chose him; you betrayed us and you got caught in the middle. No one was supposed to get hurt like that. We had not counted on you being a traitor. So you got nothing less than you deserved."
"I deserved to be crushed by a building, I deserved to be in a coma for over a year. I deserved to go through years of physical therapy. This is a revenge I have been planning for over five years now, Starfire. And the highlight will be when you suffer as much as I did. You couldn't have possibly thought that you'd get out that easily, did you? You didn't think there would be repercussions, consequences to your actions? And to top it off, you've endangered innocent lives. How many people do you think that bombing killed in the café? And what about your new little friend, Raven?"
"What does Raven have to do with anything?" Kori was worried; this was exactly what they were afraid of, Raven getting caught in the middle. Even though she still wasn't sure about the girl, Kori did not want to see her hurt.
"Only that things are going to become quite bad. You see, right now, as we speak, an 'explosive' surprise awaits Raven as she slumbers."
Kori stood there shocked, jumping as her phone rang. Terra took that opportunity to lunge at Kori. She landed on top of Kori, knocking her off her feet and causing her to land on the floor with a heavy thud. Kori bit back a curse as she hit her head on the floor. Terra's hands were on Kori's shoulders, and she was straddling her waist.
"I don't think it will matter if you are a bit roughened up, I could just say you put up a fight."
Kori brought her hands up and hit Terra in her solar plexus, causing the girl to release her hold on Kori's shoulders. Kori then brought her hand up and hit Terra in the nose. When Terra was completely off her, she quickly got up and got into a fighting stance.
"So, you finally got a backbone. I suppose all that time you spent with Robin wasn't just in exercising between the sheets. So, how good is he?"
Kori didn't answer and Terra rushed her, aiming to deliver several punches, all of which Kori blocked. Terra tried kicking Kori, but when it turned out that she wouldn't land any blows, Terra redoubled her efforts.
Kori made no attempt to take the offensive, instead opting to block all of Terra's blows. In the course, she did manage to get hit a few times and she knew she would feel those punches and kicks later, but right now, Kori was so high on adrenaline, nothing was affecting her.
Terra was getting tired and seeing that she wasn't making any headway in defeating Kori, decided to end the fight.
"I've had enough. This ends here."
Terra backhanded Kori, sending her flying and causing her to hit her head on the edge of her nightstand.
"Well, it's been grand. I'll talk to you later." Terra went over to the window and jumped out of it. Kori watched through a haze of fog blurring her vision. On the edges of her consciousness, she could feel the blood drip down the side of her head. She knew she'd have a few bruises later, but right now she was trying her hardest to stay awake.
Kori was just about to give up the fight when she smelled smoke. She fought her eyes open and saw an orange glow outside her door and smoke gathering. She tried to sit up, but collapsed when waves of dizziness and nausea overwhelmed her.
Taking several deep breaths, Kori once again tried to sit up, slowly this time. When she managed to do that, Kori looked towards her doorway again. The smoke was thicker, the fire getting nearer. Terra must have put something flammable down to help the fire along. Fire takes the path of least resistance, but there wasn't anything to help it along in her hallway.
She grabbed onto her nightstand and pulled herself up, standing on shaky legs. Kori took several deep breaths, and then coughed when she got lungs full of smoke. Not thinking about her safety, Kori walked over to her closet to her safe. She punched in the code, ever mindful of the heat she now felt. When the safe opened, Kori took out the box inside, and then ran back into her room, her eyes watering, and her throat sore from coughing.
She stepped to her bedroom door, but in an instant knew she couldn't go out that way. Kori turned to her window, knowing she had no other option, but dreading it anyway. She walked to it, her head throbbing, her cheek tender, and her ribs sore. She lifted one leg over, then the other, both handing outside, over the edge. Clutching the box to her chest, closing her eyes, Kori jumped off…
….And landed in a pair of strong arms.
Kori opened her eyes, shocked when she didn't feel the ground beneath her. Instead she was looking into a pair of very blue eyes, glowing from the light of the fire.
"Trying to fly?"
Kori managed a weak laugh before she started coughing. Richard quickly walked away from the burning building, clutching Kori tightly to him.
Richard had found out about what happened to Raven earlier in the night and immediately tried calling Kori. When he didn't get an answer he began to worry. Kori was a light sleeper and always answered the phone, no matter what time it was. So he drove out to her house, only to find it ablaze. When he went to Kori's window, after finding the front burning, his heart nearly stopped when he saw her getting ready to jump. He ran up to the house and managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
Richard saw the blood and the bruises just starting to form and knew he had to keep her awake in case she had a concussion. Having taken his car instead of his motorcycle, Richard carefully set Kori in the passenger's side and strapped her in. He was planning on breaking all kinds of speed limits to get Kori home.
"Kori, you have to say awake. Tell me what happened." His voice was gentle, reassuring.
Kori looked sleepily over at Richard, knowing exactly what he was doing and why, but not caring. She wanted to sleep, or better yet, she wanted this to be a nightmare from which she could wake up.
"KORI!" Richard snapped her name. There were factors he didn't know about. He didn't know how she hit her head, or if she was unconscious, or for how long. He didn't know how much smoke she'd inhaled or if she had any other injuries he couldn't see.
"Terra." Kori barely got the word passed her sore throat. Maybe if she were really subtle, Kori could close her eyes for a short while without Richard noticing.
"Keep your eyes open for me Kori. We're almost there." Richard was taking her to the only ones he trusted enough to look after Kori. He was going to Gotham City, where Alfred would know what to do.
"I had a dream tonight."
Richard glanced at Kori, and then sped up when he saw the glazed look in her eyes.
"Tell me." He was only half listening, concentrating mostly on the roads, trying to get to the Manor quickly, but safely.
"Well, it was more a memory actually. Remember how I hate storms? I would always sneak into your room. I always felt safe there. I knew you would never let anything happen to me. You asked me if I could have any superpower, what would it be and I said that I would want to fly. I still do. I want to fly so high that I would be able to fly to heaven. Maybe then I would be able to see my parents. They're dead. Do you remember that night?"
He did actually, very well. He also asked her if she would tell him why she was afraid of storms, like he had done every time before, and after. At the time she hadn't been. As if reading his thoughts, Kori continued.
"I'm ready to tell you now, Robin." Richard smiled at her use of that name. He didn't realize how much he missed it.
"Why are you afraid of storms, Starfire?"
"The day my parents were killed, it was storming very badly. While all the fighting was taking place, my sister and I were told to hide in the forest. I remember it was very cold and windy, and the sky was dark, almost black. I was scared, but my sister was with me. After a while, we heard voices; at first we thought it was safe to come out of hiding, but then my sister and I realized that it was the bad people."
Richard noticed that it was no longer Kori the woman speaking, but the frightened little girl. She was reliving that day. He knew she had a harsh past, he just didn't realize how ugly it was.
"My sister and I ran deeper into the forest, getting soaked by the rain, jumping every time it thundered. Then I slipped in some mud and my sister kept running, leaving me behind. I tried calling out to her but she didn't hear me.
"I kept running and running until I was so tired I just collapsed. I crawled to a tree, trying to hide from the rain and the men searching the forest." Her voice was small and quiet and Kori was staring off into the distance, seeing some scene from her past that Richard didn't know of. Her eyes were glossy.
"I stayed there the whole night and when morning came I was cold and wet and hungry. It turns out I had pneumonia, but I didn't know that at the time. Somehow I managed to get up and find my way home. When I got there I saw what had happened. I saw the bodies of people I knew, children I had played with. I went to my house and I found my parents' bodies; my brother's body." She shivered at the memory and the vision it brought with it.
Shortly after, I was captured and forced into slavery, and I was reunited with my sister. She took care of me. I don't remember much of my time as a slave, or how my sister and I escaped, only that we did and we found our way to the school."
Kori fell silent after that. Richard had listened to the entire tale. She had gone through so much in her life. It wasn't fair that she should have to suffer anymore. Shortly after Kori finished her tale, they reached Wayne Manor. He punched the code to open the gate and drove through to the garage.
After parking the car Richard got out and carried Kori up to the main part of the house. He wasn't surprised to see Alfred there.
"Master Richard-" Richard cut him off.
"I could use some help please, Alfred."
Alfred betrayed no surprise at seeing Richard carrying a barely conscious girl clad only in a nightgown and robe into the house. He merely inclined his head and went for a first aid kit, and Master Bruce.
Richard carried Kori up to his old room and gently laid her on the bed. He brushed the hair away from her face, careful not to touch the wound. He brushed the top of the robe aside and saw the bruises on her collarbone and shoulder. He also noticed the bruises on her forearms where her sleeves were bunched up. She apparently blocked some very strong hits. His eyes strayed to the box Kori was clutching to her. When he tried to take it away, Kori merely held tighter. Her eyes were partially opened, and she was watching Richard's every move.
"It's alright Kori, I'll keep it safe."
Her hold loosened and Richard was able to remove the box. He then went back to examining her; grinning as he recalled the many times in the past she did the same for him.
"If I had known your goal was to get me into bed, I would have worn a sexier negligee." Her voice was quite and husky from all the smoke and coughing. She seemed to be coming around, loosing some of her earlier unsteadiness.
Richard chuckled slightly. "My plans aren't quite as nefarious as you'd think."
Neither one realized they had a small audience watching their interaction. Three sets of eyes were on them, not missing the smallest detail.
"Where am I? Would you stop, I am not sure if that tickles or hurts. Besides I am perfectly all right." Her voice was serious and she attempted to scowl, but her eyes were laughing. She batted Richard's hands away but he just laughed at her attempts and caught her hands in his.
"I seem to recall saying that very thing to you quite often, even though clearly I wasn't alright. And, clearly, Kori Anders, you aren't fine either. What happened?"
"I seem to recall Dick, that I asked you a question first. Ask anybody, and they will clearly state that you have to answer me before I answer you. Where am I?"
Alfred stepped forward, after clearing his throat, hands expertly holding the first aid kit.
"You are at Wayne Manor. Please forgive Master Richard's manners. I had hoped I taught him better, but it seems to have been lost on him. I am Alfred."
He walked into the room, ignoring Richard's amusement, and stood next to the bed. Alfred noticed how the girl tensed and how Richard soothingly ran his thumbs across hers. She relaxed and smiled a beauteous smile, only slightly dimmed by a small split in her upper lip.
"Hello Alfred. I am Kori. Are you to be the one who is to patch me up?"
"I am indeed, Miss Kori."
"Are we going to have this large of an audience through the entire process?" Kori looked to the doorway, pointing out the two other people who were there. One was a tall man with hair as black as Richard's. He had a square, stubborn jaw line and broad shoulders. Even though the room itself was bright, he somehow managed to cloak himself in the shadows. Kori recognized him from the television as Bruce Wayne.
The other figure standing in the doorway was a female. She looked to be short, very petite, and Kori noticed she had red hair. 'She must be Barbara Gordon.'
"Of course not, Miss Kori." With a look towards the doorway, Alfred signaled the two to leave. Then he glanced at Richard as well.
"Master Richard, if you please. Richard was about to protest when Kori stopped him short.
"Richard, obviously you trust Alfred enough to have brought me here. Let the man do his job. You will only get in his way, hovering around like a mother hen. I am sure you need to explain some things to Mister Wayne. Then, after, I will explain what happened to me."
"Fine. But call if you need anything." Richard got up off the bed and started for the door.
"How about some clothes. These ones smell like smoke."
Richard nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Then he went off to find Bruce and Barbara.
Part D
Raven immediately called Logan and briefly outlined what happened and where she was so he could come and get her. Roberta, the woman who answered the door, got some bandages and Band-Aids for Raven.
"I know it's not enough for some of those but you need to put something on those cuts.
Raven, unused to random acts of kindness, mumbled an awkward thank you.
"I know who you are, you know. You're Raven. I remember seeing on the news last year, you and that handsome young man, Logan, caught the serial rapist and helped put him in prison for a very long time. I just want to say, you do good work. And it is a shame someone did this to you. I hope you catch whomever did this."
"Thank-you."
"Can I get you anything? Water? Tea?"
"Water would be fine, thank-you. And some ibuprofen if you have any." Raven didn't think she had said thank-you so much in her life. It was slightly disconcerting. She spent her time waiting for Logan trying to get cleaned up and taking inventory of her various injuries. Nothing was broken, which was good. However, she had a great many scratches, some deep, on her arms and legs, not to mention the wood lodged in her hand, and her scraped feet.
When Logan finally did show up, Raven couldn't help but smile. In any other situation, it would be more humorous; his shirt was inside out and backwards, his pants were wrinkled and had a huge coffee stain on them, one pant leg was rolled up, revealing a sock less foot. And his hair is in shambles.
"What on earth happened to you Raven?"
"Well, my house was blown up. I caught a few pieces, hence the scratches. Now, do you think you could get me somewhere that I can change and get fixed up? I have this massive piece of wood sticking out of my hand that I would like removed. Can we maybe do something about that?"
Logan stared at her for a second before he shook his head and pulled out his cell phone. Raven wasn't sure who he was calling until he said Victor's name.
"Victor. We're coming over, Raven's hurt. I need for you to get a hold of Kori. She needs to know what happened."
"Bring Raven over, but I don't think I'll be able to get a hold of Kori. I heard on my scanner that there was a fire and it was at her address. I haven't heard anything about a body inside. So, maybe she's okay." Victor's voice sounded worried and uncertain. Logan didn't know whom he was trying to convince more.
"Is there anyway for you to get in touch with Richard?"
"No."
"Alright. Let's not panic. Let's assume no news is good news. We have to worry about fixing Raven up first. We'll be there soon. Later."
Logan ended the call and turned back to Raven. She was in the process of thanking the lady.
"If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know."
"That's not necessary. I was happy to help. I do wish you luck in stopping the one who did this."
Raven smiled a little bemusedly at the woman. Not only was she nice, but also she was unconditionally nice, not wanting or expecting anything in return.
She said good-bye and started to follow Logan out, hissing when her feet hit the rocks. Logan heard it and turned around. Grinning what could only be considered an evil grin, he went over to Raven and bent down, hugging her to him and lifted her over his shoulder. He placed his arm behind her knees and carried her to the car. The laughter of the woman sounded behind them.
"Garfield Logan, put me down this instant! I refuse to be carried like a sack of potatoes."
"Sorry Rae, no can do. You'll just have to deal with it. We wouldn't want you to hurt you feet anymore. And don't call me Garfield." Logan kind of liked having Raven in this position; it gave him quite an advantage.
They got to the car and Logan carefully set Raven inside. Then he got in. While driving to Victor's place, Logan told Raven about the fire at Kori's house, and they had no idea if she was all right. Raven didn't have anything to say, so she kept silent.
They reached Victor's house and set about patching Raven up. Getting the wood out of her hand proved to be tricky. Raven just gritted her teeth throughout the pain.
After she was bandaged and cleaned and re-clothed in a pair of Victor's too big shirt and shorts, the phone rang. It was Richard.
Part E
Richard made a small detour to call Victor and let him know what happened to Kori. He listened as he was told about Raven, and that she was all right. The phone call was short, just a swapping of information.
After ending the call, he resumed his search for Bruce and Barbara. He found them in the kitchen, drinking chocolate milk.
"So. That's Kori? What happened to her?" He voice was snide.
Richard looked at Babs, as she so hated being called. Although he would NEVER admit it, it did his ego good to hear her sound so jealous. Their short, but extremely torrid affair, was never meant to be, but Richard knew she still had feelings for him. To which she would NEVER admit.
"I haven't been able to get all the information. All I could get was that Terra was involved. I went to Kori's house after getting no answer to my phone call, which was unusual. And I had this feeling…" He stopped trying to explain it, that he just had this feeling that Kori was in trouble and that he needed to get to her. "When I got there, I found her house on fire and her getting ready to jump out of her window. Most of my time was spent trying to keep her awake and talking."
"Who's Terra?" Bruce spoke, handing Richard a glass of chocolate milk.
"Someone who apparently has a huge chip on her shoulders. She's already killed two people, and tonight, tried to kill two more."
Richard told tem about June and Alex, their connection to each other, Kori, Terra, and everyone. Then he told them about the attack on Raven. He had to omit quite a few things since there was much he was not present for.
"I don't like the idea that she's going after an innocent person who has nothing to do with this."
"That is because Terra does not see Raven as an innocent person in this. She has decided to help us, therefore presenting herself as fair game in Terra's eyes. And Terra was not trying to kill me tonight. She said I was meant for someone else. And before you ask, I have no idea about whom she was speaking." They all turned to the voice, finding Kori standing in the doorway, still wearing her sooty robe; Alfred was behind her.
"Should you be up?" Richard's tone was accusatory, but it still held some humor, and nobody could miss the concern.
"I am fine Richard. Do not overly worry over me. Besides I am thirsty and the kitchen is the most logical place to find something to alleviate that problem. And I still do not have any clothes to change into." Kori pouted a little at the last and looked down at herself.
"You must be feeling better. You've gotten all frosty on me again."
"I believe the term I used Dick was glacial."
"Semantics." Kori stumbled slightly and Richard caught her.
"I think maybe I shall rest a little. I am not so very thirsty after all." She grabbed onto Richard's arm, steadying herself.
Barbara watched the two. Their actions toward each other contrasted directly with their words. According to their words, Kori could hardly tolerate Richard, and he took supreme enjoyment in tormenting her. But their actions bespoke of a deep caring and a bond only they shared. She saw the concern in Richard's eyes, and the gratitude in Kori's. Barbara saw how Kori leaned into Richard's touch, and how he seemed more relaxed.
Alfred handed Kori a glass of water and she smiled up at him. The girl affected even Alfred if the softening of his ever stoic features was any indication. At least Bruce wouldn't let her down. But when she glanced over at him, he was actually smiling. Bruce never smiled.
"I called Victor to let him know you were alright. Apparently someone noticed your house was on fire and call it in. He heard about it over his scanner. He was worried. Also, Raven and Logan are with him."
At the mention of Raven's name Kori turned around, her eyes wide and panicked.
"Is she undamaged? Terra said something about an explosion, but at the time I couldn't do anything, or find anything out."
"Raven's fine. She has a few cuts and bruises and is homeless, but otherwise she is undamaged. Now, Kori, what happened to you?" Kori let the small mocking of her terminology slide.
Kori looked at Richard and then at the others around the room.
"You can trust them too, Star."
She just raised an eyebrow at the use of her nickname, but told them what happened between Terra and herself.
"One day, Kori, and soon, you're going to have to tell me exactly what happened back then." Kori nodded her head and looked away.
Richard was thoughtful and everyone else was quiet. Until Kori threw her glass that was in her hand at the wall. Everyone started at the sound and Kori's outburst that followed.
"That Bitch!" Richard's eyebrows shot up. He had never heard Kori swear, ever; it was a testament to how well and truly pissed she was. They watched her pace around the conveniently large and spacious kitchen.
"First she betrays her friends. Then she comes back from the supposed dead, pissed, for which I cannot really say I blame her. But then she butchers June, a woman who never harmed anyone. A woman I considered a sister. Then she steals my necklace and leaves it at the site of her next murder. Alex. He never did anything wrong to her. She mad three children lose a parent. And why? To exact some sort of twisted revenge against me. As if that wasn't bad enough, she attacks Raven. Then she barges into my home. She invaded my sanctuary; a place I felt safe and she ruined it. Then she attacks me and burns my home to the ground."
Kori swung around to face the others. Her eyes were glittering with righteous fury, her face was flushed; she was the very picture of an avenging angel in all her glory, beautiful in her wrath.
"I swear Terra will be made to pay. I will not allow he to get away with these travesties!"
Nobody said a word, nobody moved, nobody so much as breathed loudly. Suddenly, Kori lost her anger, her inner fire and seemed to shrink down on herself. She looked tired, both mentally and physically exhausted. She looked over to where she threw the glass and saw the shards and the water dripping down the wall.
"I apologize for breaking your glass, Mr. Wayne. It was an uncalled-for action on my part. I let my anger get the better of me."
"Don't concern yourself with it. Under the circumstances, it is a wonder you did not do more. You were entitled to feel angry. And please, call me Bruce."
Barbara gaped, he wasn't angry with her. Bruce hated it whenever anyone made a mess. And he's letting her call him Bruce. And Alfred was just cleaning up the glass. She huffed and Bruce glanced sharply at her.
"Kori, I want you to stay somewhere safe."
When Kori swung around to face him, proving her inner fire was just banked, not extinguished, he knew he said the wrong thing.
"And where would you suggest I say Dick? In case you forgot, my house was just burned to pieces."
Usually Richard would have enjoyed hearing the iciness in Kori's voice, but not right now. She came close to dying tonight, and he didn't want that to happen to her again. However, before he could respond to her question, Bruce did.
"You are more than welcome to remain here. Apart from the White House, this is probably the safest place you could be. And I have more than enough room." At Bruce's suggestion, Alfred left to prepare a room, deciding to place her close to Richard.
Kori looked up at Bruce Wayne, and couldn't help but be surprised that he was allowing her to stay at his house.
"Thank-you. I appreciate the offer. But-"
"No buts Kori. Just thank the man, and go to bed." Kori glared at Richard's high-handedness, but since she was tired anyway, decided to comply. But first…
"Alright Dick, is there something into which I can change? I do not wish to dirty the sheets because all my clean cloths happen to be a pile of ash right now."
"You know, I think this glacial side of you is starting to grow on me." Kori rolled her eyes and her lips turned up at the edges, just the tiniest bit. Richard walked up to her and swung his arm around her shoulders, leading her to the room he knew Alfred had prepared for her.
"I think I can find something for you to wear."
Bruce watched the two with a smirk on his face, and Barbara looked glum.
Kori had changed into an old shirt of Richard's and a pair of sweatpants before she got into the bed. It was huge, like king size huge. The room was tastefully done in beige, robin's egg blue, lavender, and a muted coral. It managed to be feminine, but could be easily turned more masculine with a change of the linens.
She looked at the clock and was surprised to find that only four hours had passed since she woke up from the dream. She snuggled deeper into the pillows and was just nodding off when a loud band of thunder sounded right outside her window. She sat bold upright in bed.
Richard heard the thunder, right after he saw the lightening. He waited a few minutes until it lightening and thundered again. He smiled when he heard the soft sound of footsteps coming nearer to his door. He listened as the door opened. His smile widened when he heard the unmistakable sound of his name.
"Richard? Are you asleep?" Kori whispered.
"No." He whispered the answer right back.
Another crash of thunder, and she ran into the room and jumped onto the bed. He was holding the covers up for her, and she immediately burrowed under them, burying her head in his chest. Kori curled into Richard's side and immediately fell asleep, feeling safer than she had in a long time. Richard fell asleep soon after, his arms wrapped around the sleeping girl, a small smile on his face.
A/N Alright, chapter three up. This one was kind of fun to write. The plot may seem kind of slow, but I want to build the characters in correlation to the story. I wanted to capture the complexities of Robin/Richard and Starfire/Kori's relationship. There is both animosity but trust, and a deep love and affection for each other.
I don't know if I should write Batman in the story or not. I would fit with my Alternate Universe because the only thing really missing would be the super powers. I'm not really sure though.
I am also uncertain about whether to make Logan and Raven's relationship a romantic one. While I am all for the togetherness of Raven and Beast Boy, I don't know if it should be included in this story.
I know that in the last chapter's A/N I said I wasn't using Garfield as the name, but I changed my mind, as all authors are entitled to do. I just made him go by his last name. It seemed cooler. And it was appropriate that Raven know his real first name.
I feel entitled to mention that this story will only go up to a certain point, concluding one part, then moving on to a sequel. If a story is too many chapters, the readers tend to loose interest, however, if it is only so many chapters, then concluded in a sequel, it seems like less to read.
That is all for my author's notes for this chapter. Please be patient for my next one to come out. I have a whole bunch of rather large projects due. Thank you.
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