Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. But I'm thinking if I did I'd still write Fanfiction just for the fun of it.
Title: Life As We Think We Know It
Summary: Strange visions have been haunting Dick Grayson's sleep, and they've only gotten worse since he met the new girl Kori. He's friend Vic thinks he's just stressed out but could it be that there's more to these dreams then everyone thinks...
Author: Silverflare07
Dedication: To the little voices in my head who will stay awake with me late at night and listen to me as I write this in my head. Cheers to you guys!
Author's Notes: This is going to seem like an AU fic but at the end you'll realize that it's not. Okay nice quick update this time because I'm leaving for Europe in a week and I want to get this finished before I go. The last two chapters should be out next week sometime.
Stuff you need to know:
"Speech"
Thoughts or Dreams
Robin groaned again and sat up in bed. Obviously something was very wrong, and that something wasn't just going to fix itself. For some reason he was not at Titans Tower...in fact there was no Titans Tower but...he was in Jump City. Robin shook his head and caught sight of the sleeping girl next to him. She was defiantly Starfire; he knew just by looking at her but...she'd hadn't acted like Starfire at all. Either this was an elaborate scheme...and Star was in on it, or she was just as clueless about her real identity has he had been.
Sighing Robin slipped out of bed and into a pair of sweat pants. He turned to wake the sleeping girl up and saw her jeans and bra lying on his floor, and not on her, which is where they should be. The reality of the situation fully hit Robin and he froze, hand just above her shoulder. He had just broken one of the biggest rules of superherodum. You didn't date teammates.
And you never, ever slept with them.
Robin felt the familiar prick of panic sinking into his stomach. He'd felt it when he watched his parents fall from the swinging trapeze and when Batman had told him it was time for him to start his own team... And he felt it when he'd realized that Starfire was going to marry the snot-looking monster. Robin didn't really handle panic well. It tended to cloud his thinking. He shook his head and realized that he had to get the girl out of his room.
"Star…er, Kori wake up!"
The sleeping girl buried her head into his pillow and groaned. "I wish for five more minutes sister, please."
Dick shook her gently. "Come on S...Kori, we don't have 5 more minutes, and...I'm not your sister."
These words seemed to wake the girl up. She shot up, the sheet slipping down, giving him a full view of her chest. Robin blushed and looked down at the ground. "Kori you need to get dressed."
Starfire...Kori looked confused. Mind still groggy from sleep she had yet to remember the previous days events. She glanced over at her clock...
...and realized it wasn't there.
She looked around the room, expecting to see the purple walls and many boxes she had yet to unpack. Instead she saw a room full of soccer trophies, dirty clothes, and posters of some bands. "This...is not my room."
Beside her Robin shook his head, his gaze still averted to the floor. Kori finally noticed the boy there and quickly pulled up the sheet again. She looked around and found her clothes a few feet away from the bed. Yesterday's events flooded her mind. Her eyes widened and she turned to face Robin. "W-we..."
Robin nodded again, still not taking his eyes off the floor. "Yeah."
Kori fell silent for a moment before turning her head to the ceiling. "What time is it?"
Robin looked at his clock. "1:30 in the morning."
With a soft groan Kori flopped back down onto the bed. "And we have school today..."
Robin nodded again. "Yeah so maybe it would be best if you went home now."
Kori's eyes widened in surprise didn't he want to talk about this...she knew things here weren't like they were back in her own country but still... Tears sparkled in her eyes but she closed them swiftly. After exhaling slowly she nodded. "Alright." She stood up, his bed sheet still wrapped around her body. "I will go home." She picked up her clothes and exited his room, heading for the bathroom.
Robin sighed, he was glad no one was up at this hour or he'd be in some serious trouble. A head suddenly stuck itself in his doorway.
"Perhaps after engaging in such activities it is best not to send the young lady home right away." Alfred's head disappeared from sight but his voice floated over to Robin. "And I did warn you not to get anything on the furniture."
Robin sweat dropped. Or someone could be up at the ungodly hour of 1:30...
Kori walked into his room, fully clothed, a few minutes after Alfred's 'visit'. She picked up her shoes and slipped them on, careful not to look Robin in the face. Finally she was done and she couldn't avoid the situation any longer.
"Dick please, we must discuss what has happened between us."
Robin couldn't look at her. He tried, but every time he did he would see the old Starfire, asking him a question about something that Kori would obviously know the answer too. See the sweet, innocent, naïve Starfire that was his best friend. An innocence that he'd corrupted. Robin hung his head. "I...I can't Kori."
Kori frowned and tried to make eye contact but he dodged her successfully. "Why? What is wrong?"
"This...this shouldn't have happened."
Hurt flashed in Kori's green eyes and tears made themselves present again. "But if..."
"Just give me space!" He growled...and was suddenly reminded of the time he and Starfire and been stranded on the alien planet. How much it had hurt to have her refuse to talk to him. "Kori wait..." He turned around but it was too late.
Kori was gone.
He ran out of his room and made it to the stairs just in time to hear his front door slam shut. He leaned against the banister and pushed down the burning lump that was steadily climbing up his throat.
His head hung again as he made his way back into his bedroom. He flopped down onto his bed and buried his face into the pillow...that smelt like Starfire...Kori's shampoo.
He really screwed up...again. How as he going to get her to forgive him this time?
And was he going to get everything back to normal?
5 hours later Robin dragged himself out of bed and began to get ready for school. He was almost completely ready when he realized he wasn't ready to face Kori yet. He dropped his book bag on the floor and crawled back into bed. He pulled the covers back over his head and growled.
He had never felt so helpless in his entire 18 years of life...or at least in his entire 7 years of crime fighting. Except for the time when Starfire had flown off into space and Cyborg had refused to let him help fix the T-Sub up for space travel...and the time when he was sure he was going to lose Starfire to Tamaran, as it's Grand Ruler.
Okay so maybe he had felt slightly useless since his crime-fighting career began but still...now he felt extra useless. He had no utility belt; no cape made of metals 10xs stronger the steel. No super powered teammates to back him up.
He was alone in this. He had to figure out how to get back to the real world...with no weapons, no giant T full of special high-tech equipment. Just a regular boy, in a regular town, with regular friends.
Who just happened to remember he was a super hero... yeah...regular...
Gar looked around the school building and wondered where all his friends could be. Kori and Dick were usually there by now. Vic would be here soon and so would Raven. That's how it had been forever. But Dick and Kori weren't here.
He spotted Vic's car pull into the parking lot and his face brightened. Maybe he knew where Kori and Dick were. "Hey Vic?"
Vic waved as he jogged towards his friend. "Hey! Uh, where are Dick and Kori?"
Gar's face fell. "You mean you don't know either! Maybe Raven'll know."
"Maybe Raven will know what?"
Both friends turned to face the goth girl as she walked up to them. "If Raven will know where Dick and Kori are."
Raven shook her head. "I thought they'd be here by now."
The bell rang, signaling the start of the school day, and the three friends exchanged worried glances. "Maybe they're just running late..." Gar suggested hopefully.
Raven looked up at the dark clouds, gathered ominously overhead. "Yeah..."
Vic put a hand on his friends' shoulders. "Come on ya'll. We don't wanna be late. If they don't show up today then we'll go to their houses after school."
Raven and Gar both nodded. "Okay."
The three friends nodded to each other and smiled before running into the school building.
The school day came and went with no sign of either Dick or Kori. The three friends met up in the parking lot, they would take Vic's car and go see what was wrong.
"Okay," Vic leaned up against his car. "Who should we go talk to first?"
Gar shrugged and Raven shook her head. "I don't know."
Vic sweat dropped. "Right...rock, paper, scissors then?"
Gar nodded and he held out a closed fist. "If I win we go see Dick first and if you win," he motioned towards Vic, "we'll go see Kori."
Vic nodded. "Okay. Rock," The two friends moved their fists up and down, "paper, scissors, shoot!"
Gar held an open palm for paper and Vic held two fingers out for scissors. "Haha! I win. Kori it is."
They all climbed into Vic's car and he started the engine. "So...anyone know where Kori lives?"
Gar shook his head while Raven sweat dropped at the two boys. She sighed, "She lives near Dick. Once you get to his neighborhood I can show you where her house is."
Gar leaned back into the seat as Vic drove out onto the main road. "Well that's convenient."
The ride was silent, save for Raven's few instructions on how to get to Kori's house. When they reached the mansion Gar and Vic looked up at it in awe. "Whoa..."
Raven shrugged, refusing to admit that she'd had the same reaction the first time she and Dick and seen the place. "What did you expect, she's the princess of a foreign country."
"Good point."
They climbed out of Vic's car and slowly made their way up to the front door. Vic cautiously raised a hand and knocked. A few seconds later, after some muffled footsteps, a clash, and a curse, the door opened to reveal a tall black haired girl.
"Hello?" She placed a hand on her hip and looked at the three teens. "What do you want?"
Raven took a breath and answered. "Is Kori home? She wasn't in school today so we want to make sure everything is alright."
The girl raised an eyebrow at them. "Well she wouldn't be in school, would she? She's been up since 5:30 packing everything in her room."
"Packing?" Their eyes widened and they all gasped.
"Yeah, packing. She came about 2 in the morning crying about someone being a dick." The girl shrugged. "I don't know much else, I was half asleep. Then I woke and half her stuff was already packed and she said she was going back home."
"Home!"
"Yeah. She just left for the airport like 5 minutes ago. Is that all?" The three friends nodded. "Okay good, now I've got some homework I have to do. Bye." She slammed the door shut and they heard her walking away.
Vic turned to look at his two friends. "I can't believe she's just up and leaving like that. She didn't even tell us. Do you think she told Dick?"
Gar shrugged. "It would explain why neither of them were at school today. Poor Kori, I thought she was doing fine here, now she's going back home. All because some guy was a dick to her."
Something inside Raven sparked at the sentence. "Maybe he wasn't a dick," She thought back to her conversation with Vic, "Maybe she meant our Dick."
Gar and Vic considered it for a few seconds before nodding. The three friends raced off to Vic's car, eager to get to Dick's house and straighten everything out.
Raven felt like something was off, there was an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She had no idea what could have possibly happened between the two that would cause Kori to leave so suddenly like that. She just hoped that in the end everything would work out...
Somehow.
Robin sighed again and stretched out on his bed. He'd been like that for the past 2 hours and was beginning to think he was going insane. All day he'd been trying to figure out how he'd gotten stuck in this alternate universe, that had to be what it was, and how he was going to get out.
So far no solution was in sight.
Robin sighed and focused on his other problem. Apologizing to Kori and explaining why he'd reacted the way he had. It wasn't very easy to go up to someone and explain that, in the real world, they were your best friend and a crime-fighting alien from another planet. Yeah...that would go over well.
He could see it now. Hey Kori! Look I'm sorry for freaking out on you like that this morning but you have to hear me out. We're really in a parallel universe and you're not just Kori Anders. You're actually Starfire, a crime-fighting alien superhero, my best friend, and teammate. That's why I freaked out on you. It's not that I don't want to have sex with you it's just I can't, you know...you don't date your teammates and all that.
Robin groaned in frustration. This was getting him absolutely nowhere. He rubbed his eyes, wishing again for his mask. It looked like nothing was going to come easy to him that day. He was vaguely aware of the doorbell ringing but his thoughts had already returned to his first problem.
Who had done this to him? And if it happened to him had it happened to the others too. Were they all stuck in this other world too? Or were they stuck in their own, different worlds.
Maybe it was just him. Maybe they had been fighting Slade or someone and he'd taken a hit to the head. Maybe, at this very moment, he was lying in the hospital wing of Titan's Tower in a coma and this dream world was just a creation made up by his mind to keep him busy until he woke up.
Robin shook his head; no this was something different. If it had been a coma, the minute he realized who he really was he should have woken up back in Titans Tower.
Or maybe-
His thoughts were cut short by loud banging on his bedroom door.
"DICK! Open up!" He recognized Vic's voice through the steady pounding.
Robin ignored him in hopes that he would go away. The pounding didn't cease.
"I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR..." Apparently Cyborg was still as stubborn as he'd always been here in this world.
"Go away!" He yelled back, after the pounding had stopped. For a few moments there was a blissful silence and Robin thought he'd actually listened to him.
"GOD DAMIT DICK! OPEN THIS DOOR!"
Robin sighed. Obviously not. Robin chose the immature response and continued to ignore him. He heard Vic sigh from the other side of the door.
"Stop being a baby Dick. Something happened between you and Kori!" Robin opened his mouth to deny it. "And don't even THINK of denying it. She's leaving because of you! What the hell did you do to her?"
Robin's head shot up. Leaving? No, she couldn't leave. The only reason he'd remembered was because of her. If there was one thing he did know about getting home it was, however he did it, he'd need Star/Kori there with him. He jumped off the bed and scrambled to the door, unlocking it and throwing it open.
"SHE WHAT!"
Vic nodded and behind him Gar and Raven did the same. "She left for the airport about 10 minutes ago."
"Which airport!" Dick was beginning to spaz. He had to get there and stop her. But how the hell was he going to find her?
Raven raised an eyebrow. "There's only 1 airport in Jump City Dick."
Oh! That was how. He nodded furiously at his friends. He ran past them and down the stairs, calling to them over his shoulder. "Thanks guys! Cyborg, help yourself to something in the kitchen. You two Rae, Beast Boy."
The three friends watched with raised eyebrows as Dick hurried out the door. "Uh," Vic rubbed the back of his head. "Did he just call me Cyborg?"
Dick whipped his motorcycle out of the driveway and onto the main road. The airport was about 15 minutes away but if he drove fast enough, and didn't get a speeding ticket, he could make it there in 10. He revved up the engine, pressing on the gas, urging the bike to go faster.
Come on! I have to get there. I just have to!
He pulled into the airport parking lot moments later and threw his helmet onto the parked bike. He ran inside and up to the information desk.
"Is there a flight to..., uh," Robin stopped suddenly. He had no idea if Kori came from Tamaran like Starfire did. Finally he gave a desperate cry and did the only thing he could think of. "Never mind! I need to see someone leaving from the airport today! But I don't know what flight she's on or where she's going."
The attendant at the desk raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. "Uh-huh."
Robin growled. "I'm serious! I know she's going back home to her own country. I just don't know what the country's called."
The woman looked like she didn't believe, although in totally honesty if their roles and be reversed he probably wouldn't have believed himself either. He looked her over. Long brown hair, big, oval hazel eyes, make-up and nails done perfectly. She looked every part the ideal 'preppy girl' so hopefully she would be a sucker for romance like every other preppy girl.
"Please! I have to see her. If I don't she'll leave and I'll never get to tell her how I feel!"
Her eyes softened as he'd hoped and she made a small 'aw' noise. "Of course you can go see her. They won't let you on the plane without a ticket anyway."
He flashed her a smile. "Thank you so much."
She smiled. "No problem." She watched as he ran off and sighed dreamily. "I wish my boyfriend was romantic like that." Then with a happy giggle she went back to work.
After checking five terminals and coming up empty handed Dick finally found her. She had her back to him, standing in line to get on the plane. Fear ripped at Robin's heart and he heard himself call out to her.
"STARFIRE, WAIT!"
By some miracle she turned around, eyes searching for whoever had yelled out. When her eyes landed on him they widened considerably. He raced towards her, reaching her a few moments later. He rested his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
"Don't...go..." He panted, slowly straightening himself out. "Please don't go Star, I love you!"
He swept her into a kiss before she could respond. He poured his heart and soul into this kiss, only this time as Robin to Starfire. He broke the kiss a few moments later and smiled at her. "Please don't ever go." She beamed up at him and suddenly seemed to be bathed in an unearthly glow.
In fact...she was bathed in an unearthly glow. Slowly she began to drift away from him, floating back into the intense light. She seemed frozen in time, her smile as wide as it had been before. He tried to reach out for her but found his hand met empty air. The light shone brightly, blinding him. He threw his hands up over his face to shield his eyes. He growled, Starfire wasn't getting away from him again. Blindly, he charged forward, desperate not to lose the tamaranian girl again. He kept running, somehow knowing he was heading straight for the barrier that had blocked him in his dreams.
...Only this time, he broke through.
Robin sat up with start. He looked around and smiled. He was back in the tower! He laughed out loud and looked around. He was sitting on the living room floor, his friends all around him. Quickly he jumped up and ran over to Starfire, the closest to him.
"Star! Star wake up!"
Starfire stirred in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. "Good morning friend Robin." She sat up and looked around her. "Why have we all fallen asleep in the room of living?"
Robin grinned from ear to ear. That was the Star he remembered. But just to make sure... "Star...what's Monopoly?"
Starfire cocked her head to one side and studied him quizzically. "I am afraid I have never heard that word."
Robin's grin got wider. "And who's Kitten?"
Starfire's face darkened at the name. "She is the horrible grimpleck who took you to the prom, which is not a duel."
Robin's grin threatened to split his face in two and he tackled the girl in a fierce bear hug. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that Starfire."
Starfire smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "I am very glad to have said the things that you wanted to hear."
Robin detached himself from her, although all he wanted to do was keep holding her for the rest of his life, and stood up. "Help me wake up the others."
Starfire nodded and floated to her feet. She walked over to Cyborg and gently shook him awake while Robin did the same to Beast Boy then Raven. A few minutes later all five titans sat on the couch trying to figure out what had been going on.
"Okay...so am I the only one that has no idea what happened?"
Raven rolled her eyes. "None of us do. It could have been anything."
"Anything not natural." Cyborg nodded next to Raven.
Robin stood in front of his friends, glad to have the feel of his mask covering his eyes once again. "Obviously someone, or something, did this to us...but why?"
"And how?" Starfire added, she was floating, legs folded Indian style just above the back of the couch.
Any reply the titans might have had was interrupted by a loud beep coming from the main TV/computer. Someone was calling them. Robin walked up and pressed the button, allowing the call to complete. A young man, in his early thirties, smiled evilly at the titans. Brown hair fell into sharp blue eyes that danced with mischief. He was dressed in a simple, black, sparring outfit, much like the one Robin had worn on his quest.
"Hello titans." His voice was smooth and cool, "I see you've woken up."
"Who are you?" Robin demanded.
He chuckled. "Me? I'm the Dasher of Dreams. And the reason you were all in such a wonderful sleep for so long." He held up a small, brown leather pouch. "You see this? It's a magic powder, traps you in deep sleep, locks you inside your mind." He's face darkened and he growled. "You were supposed to stay happily in your dream worlds until you all died of starvation! Or I got there to finish you off..."
He smirked and the video zoomed out had the titans could see the small collection of money and jewels behind him. "Oh well, I suppose it was fun while it lasted." He sighed dramatically. "Good-bye Titans. You know, you really are to pesky for your own good." With that the screen went blank leaving the titans staring confusedly, wondering what exactly had just happened.
"So..." Beast Boy placed his hand behind his head. "Any idea who this 'Dasher of Dreams' guy really is?"
Starfire shook her head and Cyborg shrugged. "Just some jerk looking for a fight." Raven said.
Robin's eyes narrowed from behind his mask and he scowled. "Well he found one."
WOOHOO! I FINISHED! That's right folks Life As We Think We Know It is over! Aren't you all just so sad? I'm so happy I finally finished!
Yes there is going to be a sequel called, Dasher of Dreams, but I won't be able to work on that until I get back from Europe and I finish the pokemon fic I'm writing.
I hope you guys liked this and I hope it didn't confuse to badly; I know I threw some people off with the last chapter. But hopefully now everything is explained. If it's not let me know and I'll work on answering it in DoD.
And I'm sorry about the lame bad guy name. It was all I could think of.
R&R! Let me know what you guys think!
Thanks to all of you who reviewed:
emma-o (shinto god of death), thugette90, rock'n'rollbitch, Titan6, HRH-Ft-Louie, chibigirl626, xKazuko, lil' LIK Star, scathac's warrior, AnnMari123, Andrea, SuperrachiE, erinsailorditz, RoBiNxStAr FAN, pop66, and strodgfrgf
Oh! HRH-Ft-Louie AU stands for alternate universe; it's a fic with the same characters as a show but not the same settings, like this one when the titans didn't have their powers.
Scathac: You can have the rest of the cookies I suppose, seeing as they're just going to sit here and get stale while I write the sequel…
Oh heck! You can all have cookies!