"NO! Kori!"

Richard's eyes flapped open as he soon found himself tangled in his silky bed sheets.

"What the-"

He was even more confused than ever. Wasn't he about to be dragged into Hell just a few moments ago? Didn't he see Kori die before his eyes? He was certain of it, and he trusted his gut once he had decided that. But proof could only be in so many places at once, and when it wasn't there when you needed it the most, chances were that you would turn into despair.

But Richard felt something quite different. It was a swelling in his heart that ceased to stop making his heartbeat. It was as if he knew something was going to happen tonight. Something terrible-

He tried to remember all that he had endured with the spirits. The past? No, it couldn't be; the past was already fixed so that the events during it would lead to newer and fresher ones. The present was now the past, and the future-

The future. She was supposed to die, but when? The last time he had seen Kori was when she was in her white gown…on the night of the Christmas bash she had held at her place…also the gown she had been wearing when she was being carried to the ambulance on the stretcher…

…when she was dead.

Richard sprang up from his bed, too deep in thought to realize that three familiar sets of eyes were on the spy.

If the future were tomorrow, then that would mean Kori would be dead within any hour of the present…which was now. Suddenly, all the horrible events he had experienced were starting to make sense. Roy would come home wasted, not knowing what he was doing and beat Kori…to her death.

Richard slipped on a pair of trousers quickly, grabbed his coat and quickly made his way to the door.

'Oh God, she's getting hurt by the second. I swear, I'll kill that bastard if he makes her go through this."

He ran as fast as he could through the empty streets, his feet getting dug up into the snow as he began sprint as fast as he could.

As she watched him, the golden-haired angel sat on top of a mysteriously floating rock, along with a tall and muscular teen and a floating cloaked figure by her side.

"Oh God, Victor, what if he doesn't make it?"

He looked at her solemnly as he tried his best to remain in his optimistic perseverance, but found it impossible as he remained yet in his anxious state.

"We can only hope for the best."

Tears ran down Kori's cheeks as she watched her wasted boyfriend stumble drunk towards the couch, missing it by a whole two feet. Hastily, she ran to his aid and put an arm on his shoulder comfortingly, only for it to be flung back hard. She winced in pain as he plopped himself on the couch.

"Get me a beer," Roy slurred, trying his best to point to the refrigerator instead of the small microwave.

But the only reaction he got from Kori was a barely visible tear as she crossed her arms angrily. Was this her fault? Was she the reason she had to deal with this…drunken monster every night?

"No."

Laughing hysterically, he didn't even bother to look back in her direction. "Wha- what d-did you…s-s-s-say?"

"I said NO. You come home with enough beer in that stomach of yours, and lucky for me you didn't come home early enough to humiliate me in front of my friends!"

But her fierce courage died down quickly as he stood up suddenly, walking towards her with the most horrible sneer plastered on his face, and soon she found herself backed into a corner, unable to escape his tight grasp on her arm with her delicate skin being squeezed.

"You'll…do what...I say!" he bellowed in an inebriated voice.

Shaking violently in desperate need of escape, her arm was nowhere close to escaping his grasp until she slapped his face with the palm of her hand, then storming to their room. But before she could even make two steps back she felt him grab her arm once more, swerving her to face him. And then he struck her.

Oh God, how this hurt. This was the millionth time he had hit her…except the last time was harder. She had let it pass the first couple times, trying and successfully convincing herself that his anger just got to him because of the alcohol.

Kori toppled on to the floor, struggling to prop herself up, only to receive a hard kick in the gut. She could feel her face burn in pain in the very spot that he had hit her. She stared up at him, him and that scornfulness that had grown in him through the years.

Wiping the ruby blood off her lip, she tried to gather up all her strength and glared.

"Bastard."

Yelling in anger, he swung his leg at her ribs again. And again.

Her eyes widened every time his foot made contact with her body. She clutched her stomach as she doubled over in pain, her hidden bruises revealing themselves as he tore her dress violently. What was happening? Usually he stopped hitting her after a couple of minutes… And that's when she realized. What was the use of living when you've gotten used to your own boyfriend beating you up night after night?

She tried to open her blue, bruised eye and stared at him, her ragged breaths and pants catching up to her. "I…hate you. Richard was a lot-"

But again, she cried out in pain as she felt something hard hit her back. Was that the beer bottle? The shards of it that represented her already broken heart? It was too bad that she was too numb to feel anything but her soul being ripped apart. She could feel herself slip from consciousness slowly, and at that very moment was when she noticed her slow heartbeat. Thump…thump…thump…

And just before she thought she felt something tugging at her spirit, the sound of the door falling to the tiled floor echoed in her ears, and there stood a familiar face. Her favorite person.

A barely visible smile hidden under her black and blue bruises made its way on her face as she managed to utter one word out.

"Robin…"

A/N: Very nice, I think I liked writing this chapter out of all the rest in this story. This is my favorite chapter; it made me feel really sad when I wrote that last part about how literally tried desperately to hang on to her life. I think that this was my best overall chapter, but don't stop here! I'm thinking maybe one or two more chapters of this, so keep reading and reviewing; the best is yet to come!

Review please! I would appreciate it greatly to know that I have some readers and supporters out there who don't think that my story is all that bad!