Chapter One: First Sight
He hasn't seen them for six years. There have been others, some even put up a fight, but mostly in the past few years, it's been short theft jobs. He glances up at the short taps of footsteps growing louder. The icy grip of the master's voice pierces his eardrums.
"The Silithian Crystal is required."
"Yes." Always yes. He quietly gets up and left, it would be a quick job.
The young handsome face never smiles. He endured his miserable existence only to keep them alive. It was his eighth anniversary
Kori's face was sorrowful. Every year this was her day of sadness. Robin left eight years ago on this very day. She had blocked it out, but it always came creeping back.
She sighed, she really did enjoy her life. She still fought crime, she had a decent job and friends, so why did she linger on his memory?
Wandering back through her apartment, she walked into her closet and pulled down a large box. Slowly opening it she smiled. The mementoes of her youth. A tattered costume and communicator lay at the bottom of the box, as well as one mask she'd managed to swipe from Robin. She giggled, remembering the whole charade she'd put on, pretending to search everywhere for it. Eventually it was blamed on Silkie, who'd eaten important things frequently.
Kori thought of her former team members, what had happened to them. They'd stayed together for two years after Robin had left. Cyborg now designed custom cars, it had always been his dream. BeastBoy and Raven had surprised everyone when they announced that they were getting married. She remembered the shocked looked on Cy's face when they announced it, three years after the split. Funny, actually. The mismatched couple had moved to San Francisco, where they now ran a small Charter school. Despite the legal union, their relationship hadn't changed much on the outside, with Raven still the cynic, and BB still the goof. Kori often felt a bit sorry for Leah, their little girl.
So why was she still sad? Robin was never coming back, never. She dropped the box on her sofa and sat on the window sill. She had a spectacular view. Her job as a journalist paid well, considering. The bay window looked right down on the Gotham Art Museum. She gazed absent-mindedly, until something unusual happened. A figure wearing what looked like a metal suit ran out of the building, clutching something in his arms. Odd, it was late, 2 AM and she had been out, as her other self just earlier. The shadowy personage leaped up the side of a building, as guards chased it. He , she presumed, however, was lithe and agile, and easily scaled the side of the building next to hers. Obviously, he wasn't supposed to be there.
She slid into the familiar costume and hurriedly flew out to the roof. She loved this, it was what she lived for. For now, she was the mysterious, daring Alene. He seemed relieved, thinking perhaps he had evaded them. Kori hadn't yet seen his face. She stepped out from the shadows, and looked into his face, and it was the same one she'd seen everyday all those years ago.
It was an easy, quick job. As usual the same dim-witted guards tried to chase him. He scales the side of the building with little effort and propels himself onto the roof. He stops and rests for a moment, not knowing that he will soon be challenged.
A young woman steps out form the shadows in front of him. She is tall, slender with piercing green eyes. She is wearing a tight sleeveless purple top with black leather pants and boots. He looks into her eyes, and before she can send the scorching green laser at him, he runs. He looks back, and they see each other once more. Both are awestruck, and dazed.
Later, Kori would never remember exactly how she got back to her apartment, but she would always remember the dream she had that night.
She was standing in Titans Tower, in the game room, when a young girl strolled up to her. Kori was shocked. She was looking at Starfire, herself as a girl.
"He did it for you, you know."
"What?"
"Robin has gone away from us to save us."
"How do you know this?"
"I do, because he's Robin."
The young girl still spoke slightly strange. The strange way she had spoken had slowly faded as she worked her way through school. Kori looked at her, and all of a sudden a thousand memories of Robin came flooding back. Dancing with him, dressing in his clothes, his fury at her close marriage encounter. The familiar voice floated down from upstairs.
"Titans, trouble!"
Kori almost laughed at the sight, because for five years, this had been her life. Robin ran down first, Cyborg chased Beastboy down the stairs, and Raven came last, as always. Raven turned to Starfire who was watching.
"Who were you talking to?"
Starfire smiled, "Oh, just someone I met." And with that, they ran off to fight Dr. Light, Mad Mod, or whoever was robbing the bank that time.
Kori had woken up drenched in cold sweat. She had seen him, she knew it. He looked the same, mostly. He'd gotten taller, and now stood about 6 feet. His face was the same, the same determined look, same mask. She looked at the clock, it was 9:30.
Cursing silently, slid out of bed and got dressed and ready. She chose her own hours mostly, but today she was late. She'd been working on a story about schooling, but she couldn't seem to focus. She took the afternoon off, hoping to clear her mind. Finally, she decided to call Raven, the one person she knew would give her good advice.
The phone rung a few times until it was picked up by BB, now Gar ,answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey Gar, it's Kori, could I talk to Raven?" Raven said that her name could stay normal, besides, she reasoned, it was San Francisco.
"Sure, just a sec."
Raven's monotone could be heard, "Hey Kori."
"Raven, I have to talk to you about something."
"Okay, what is it?"
"I think I saw Robin, last night."
On the other side of the phone, Raven's eyes widened, Kori never talked about Robin. Even when she was Starfire and he first left, she never talked about him.
"That's impossible, he disappeared long ago."
"I swear, it was him. He had his mask on."
"So, what's your point?"
"What do you think I should do?"
"Find him." Raven said, and with that, she hung up.
Kori sat on her bed. She would start a new story, about the former vigilantes of Gotham City, the Teen Titans. She would find Robin and risk Slade being alive. Little did Kori know, that Robin would soon find her.
Chapter Two: