Title: Richard Grayson, the Boy Wonder
Authoress: StarryTian
Summary: Robin saved Kori Anders. But when she has to choose between her best friend, Richard Grayson and the Boy Wonder, who will she pick? And little does she know that Richard IS Robin. . .
Discalimer: I do not own the Teen Titans and I don't really want to. Whoever owns them right now is doing a FATASTIC and INCREDIBLE job at it! (-applauds-)
Dedication: xox.Annie Potter.xox and BeastBoyandKingdomHeartsLover!
Kori woke up to the sweet scent of hospital sheets, feeling better already. She stared up at the white ceiling, mulling the previous events over in her head. Everything seemed so… surreal. Like none of it was real. She smiled slightly at the thought of Robin and inhaled the clean scent of the sheets again. Giggling a bit, she chided herself for being so childish and turned over, staring at the sunlight streaming though the window. If she didn't know better, Kori would've thought she was in a hotel instead.
She decided to just relax, given it was a Saturday anyway. Later that day, her parents picked her up and dropped her home, saying something about a conference and left her to deal with her rambunctious little brother. The minute she walked through the door, she was bombarded with a yell.
"KORI!" Ryan Anders squealed. "You're BACK!"
Kori knelt down and scooped her younger brother in her arms. "Yes, I am!"
Giggling like mad, Ryan tried to push her away, for he didn't like being held. He looked at her with wide eyes.
"D-Did you reawly go to a host-pital?" he asked shyly.
She nodded and decided to put on a show. "MMhmm!"
"Whooooaaaa…."
Kori chuckled and marveled at how easily children could be amazed. "It was rather scary!" she added.
"O-Oh no…" Ryan whimpered. "Mommy says I have to go soon! Will I be hurt?"
She laughed again. "Nono, Ryan! For a brave little boy like you, it would not be scary at all. Now, run along and do your homework!"
Ryan stood at his tiptoes and beamed at being called 'brave'. Then, he chanted, "Yes sir!" and tottered off towards the living room.
Kori smiled for a second, watching her brother bounce happily away. When he was out of sight, Kori sighed and brushed her long crimson hair out of her eyes and walked to her room, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.
She walked up the stairs with a slight bounce in her step and dropped her backpack on the floor when she entered her room. Subconsciously, she flipped on the light and stared at her room. Strange. Something didn't seem right. Narrowing her eyes, Kori cautiously stepped out of her room and ran down the stairs, jumping the last four steps.
"AAAAAHHHH---…!" the scream ended abruptly.
Kori's heart beat increased ten fold. "Ryan?" she called frantically. "Where are you?"
She darted to the living room and didn't see anyone there. Breathing heavily, Kori whimpered a bit and yelled, "Ryan! Ryan! Where are you?"
The sunlight outside seemed to mock her current situation. It only added to her fear. Kori squeezed her eyes shut and her heart sped up rapidly. She opened them again and shouted, "RYAN!"
No response.
She whimpered again and willed herself to calm down. She walked cautiously to the middle of the living room, and seeing the unfinished homework only unnerved her even more. Kori clutched her hands to her chest and looked down at the ground. Something was not right. Her eyes darted around her, half expecting some murderer to come out and assassinate her. Her whole body tensed up.
"Ryan?"
It was more of a whisper now. Wait. What was that? Kori turned around and screamed.
"K-Kori?" Ryan peered at her uncertainly, holding a glass of soda.
Relief swept over her as she breathed out a sigh of relief. "Ryan! You are undamaged?" Kori knelt down and shakily hugged her small brother.
"Uhh… yeah, I'm fine!"
Weird. Ryan wasn't trying to push away from her. All the same, Kori confirmed, "You are sure you are okay?"
Ryan nodded and grinned. "Yeah! Kori look! I gots you a glass of s-soda!" He held it out proudly.
Uncertainly, Kori took it and flashed him a half-smile. "Thank you." Then, something struck her. "Wait, how did you get this? The soda is on the top most drawer!"
"That's what I was screaming about. The cup almost slipped from my hand," Ryan answered immediately. Kori could've sworn that she saw something glint in his eyes, but dismissed the thought quickly.
A bit taken aback at his perfect grammar, Kori held Ryan closer and carried him to the living room again. She set him down on the chair and looked at him directly in the eyes.
"Now, you stay here and do your homework, do you understand?" she stated firmly.
Ryan nodded and said happily, "Yes sir!"
Kori grinned at her brother's antics and watched him carefully trace the letter 'm' on his worksheet. Then, she walked up to her room again, trying to forget about the ordeal she had just experience. Kori plopped down on her bed, still trying to shake off the feeling that something wasn't right. She lay there for a couple of minutes before deciding to start on her summer homework.
"Richard!" Bruce's voice yelled over the intercom, jerking him out of his peaceful dream.
Richard groaned and dug his head deeper in the covers, vainly hoping to return to his dream…one where he was mercilessly beating up Robin, while Kori was cheering 'Go Richard! Go Richard! Go…'
"RICHARD!"
Irritably, Richard yanked the covers off him and trudged over to the box. Pressing the button, he croaked, "What?"
"Come to my office immediately. I would like a word with you." And the intercom clicked shut.
Groaning again, Richard flopped down on his bed, cursing at a certain man with a bat on his uniform. A few minutes later, he rubbed his eyes wearily and slipped into some jeans and a white shirt, while opening his door. You would've thought that being a half-time teen super hero would've helped his sleep schedule. Apparently not.
His feet dragged him to his adopted father's office and rang the doorbell.
"Come in," was the reply.
Richard yawned and pushed the cedar door open.
"What?" he asked groggily. "It's Saturday morning!"
"Sit," came a voice behind a chair that was facing away from the desk.
Richard sat grudgingly and asked again, "What?"
"Richard," Bruce said curtly, while swiveling around in his black leather chair, slamming the newspaper down on the desk and facing him.
Rolling his eyes at Bruce's dramatic entrance, Richard said, "Yeah, yeah, that's my name. What do you want?"
"Read it." Bruce was a man of few words, but he could always get his point across.
Rolling his eyes again, Richard quickly skimmed the article.
"Boy Wonder saves Kori Anders…. dramatic rescue…forbidden love…Jump City wants to know whether they've had a secret affair?" he read aloud, suddenly wide awake. "What the heck? What's going on here?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow at him. "That's exactly what I wanted to know. It seems that, a lot of people out there think you and young Kori Anders are an item."
"That's stupid."
"Don't use that tone with me, young man." Bruce scolded, ignoring another set of eye rolls that he received. "Now, listen to me."
He stood up and placed his hands on either side of the article, looking down at Richard; it was rather intimidating. "I know for a fact that you like her—no, listen." Bruce held up a finger as he saw Richard trying to object. When he saw Richard calm down, he continued calmly, "Try to stay away from her. I know this sounds strange, but you need to separate yourself from her. Now that these rumors are spreading like wildfire around the city, villains will take this advantage and use her against you. Do you understand?"
Richard stared at him. "No way! She's my best friend!"
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "So she is. All the same, this makes it even more important—" he stressed on the word, "—that you need to break up with her."
"So, you're saying I can't see her because some bad guy will kidnap her, trying to get me?" he stated bluntly.
Bruce nodded. "Glad you realize it."
Richard glared at him. "I can't do that! She's my best friend!"
"We've established that. Please leave and do…" Bruce waved his hand in the air. "…whatever it is you teens do on weekends."
The teen glowered at him and stomped out of the room, muttering something about 'stupid hero rules'.
'Who does he think he is, ordering me around!' he thought furiously. Richard flung open the door and collapsed on his bed. He shook his head in denial. It wouldn't work. He can't just stay away from Kori for the whole summer! It was impossible! Sometimes, he wished he could just… be normal.
Richard glanced outside and listened to the sound of cars rushing by, staring at the bright July sun. Suddenly, a thought floated into his mind. He jumped out of bed thinking, 'Bruce said that RICHARD couldn't see Kori… he didn't say ROBIN, now did he?'
Grabbing his uniform, boots, belt, and mask out of his backpack, Richard smirked at this loophole. He glanced at the clock and waited until the second hand passed the twelve. He then darted into action. He nimbly slipped off his jeans, replacing them with his green tights, while slipping off his shirt. After putting on the top half of his uniform, he clipped on his yellow belt and slipped into his heavy metal boots. His hand reached a mini-hair gel bottle in his utility belt and slathered some on his hands, expertly spiking his hair. Finally, he grabbed his mask and applied it carefully to face, obscuring his brilliant blue eyes from view.
He glanced at the clock again. The second hand had just reached the 'ten'. 'Yes! Fifty seconds! A personal best…'
Admiring his reflection, Robin sat down on his bed again and wondered when he could meet Kori. He closed his masked eyes and remembered Bruce saying something along the lines of going to Canada around 7PM. Robin peered at the clock and groaned when he saw it was only 9AM. It was going to be a very looong day…
A/N: Viola! Heh, excuse me for the boring chapter. The next one will be more interesting: Robin meets Kori.
Again, SAVE SEASON SIX! Oh, cool- SSS: SAVE SEASON SIX! Or better yet, SOS: SAVE OUR SHOW!
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Atlanta, GA 30318
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HAPPY ALMOST HOLIDAYS!
Over and out,
StarryTian