A/N: OMG I am sooo sorry! Thank you for all your reviews and as I assured some of you I amNOT deleting my story. I was just busy in these last two months. Some new people are mentioned in this chapter. I will put them here and at the end.

Greg (10 yrs. old)…Gizmo

Slade…Slade (he will appear as a bad guy too)

Yes to answer some reviews, I do know the song 'Listen to your heart' and that is the reason why I named my story that. Also, yes Starfire does have the speech thing but I have read many fanfics that are AU and have Starfire with the speech thing. I personally think that it's cute and Starfire just isn't Starfire without her special way of talking. It's just her, you know? Well at least I feel that way and I'm sorry but this is my story and that's the way I want her to talk.

Dedication: This chapter is for WickedWitchoftheSE because her review is the longest yet and she really mad me feel inspired with her review :).

Disclaimer: As far as I'm concerned, I still haven't managed to take over Titans but I promise I will notify you all when I do. I do, however, own Violet! That counts for something…right?

Chapter Three: Secret recipe to blind for a day

From last time…

Kori had to laugh. She would never have expected this big muscular man to like pink. "My name is Kori Anders. What is yours friend?"

"Richard Grayson."

Richard smiled. "Why don't you sit down?" He motioned to the big cushioned chairs.

Kori nodded and sat down on one of the red chairs while Richard sat across from her. She couldn't help thinking that there was something awfully familiar about him. 'Where have I seen him before?' she asked herself

Richard placed his binder in front of him and looked at Kori. "So…tell me about yourself."

Kori cleared her throat. "My name is Kori Anders, as you may know, and I came from Jump City."

"What nationality are you?" Richard asked, wondering about the way she talked.

Kori seemed to know that he was asking. "I am from the small island of Tamaran, if you are familiar of the location"—Richard nodded his head—"and since I was small it has been what I speak best. I also have two best friends—" Kori smiled "—they are the best friends you could have. There is Rachel and Gar. I am hoping they will, I believe you say, 'hook up' by the time I have returned home."

"When's that?"

"In three years."

Richard raised his eyebrow. "That's a long time."

Kori nodded solemnly. "There is great reason for me to get away from that city."

"Is that why you're here?"

Kori arched her eyebrow. "Do you not already have that information?"

"Yes…I do. But I didn't look at it because it's personal stuff that I'd prefer to hear it from you…"

Kori nodded. "Thank you. I-I might not wish you to know everything." She sighed, giving him an apologetic look.

Richard waved his hand. "I know how you feel. I once went to this program and the guy helping me knew all about my problem. Didn't do much to help me."

"May I inquire why were you here?" Kori asked in curiosity.

"Oh," Richard coughed, "my uh, parents died," he lied. Well, half lied. It wasn't the complete reason. Too much responsibility would have better defined it.

Kori gasped. "Oh! I am so sorry!"

Richard patted her hand. "Don't be."

Kori looked down to where Richard's hand was still resting hers. She suddenly gasped and quickly pulled her hand away.

Richard sent her a confused look. "Are you okay?"

Kori stood up quickly. "Uh-no I um need to use the facilities."

"Oh, okay. It's just that door there." He pointed to a white door that was beside the bed.

Kori quickly ran into the washroom, closing the door firmly. She slowly sunk down on the toilet seat. When Richard had touched her hand she had felt something. Something she hadn't felt in such a long time that she didn't even know what it was. It was a funny feeling in her stomach so she had pulled back suddenly because it scared her.

She became a little depressed again, as this feeling reminded her of Roy and then of her abortion. She sat on the toilet staring miserably at the other wall, thinking of Roy and thinking of the part of her that was gone forever. Then she started crying. Her sobs brought Richard to the door.

"Kori! Oh my God-are you okay?" Evidently he thought she might be doing something dangerous.

"I-I am…" Kori wiped away her tears and unlocked the door, opening it slowly. She sniffled and stared at the floor.

Richard nervously scratched the back of his head. He didn't really know what to do. "Uh listen…do you want to tell me why you're crying?"

Kori shook her head.

Richard nodded. "That's okay. Why don't you lie on the bed and just rest…meditate a little…and then after maybe you can tell me a little bit of why you're upset."

Kori nodded and stumbled over to the bed, slowly lying down. She closed her eyes.

Richard put a C.D. in the C.D. player and turned it on. Rushing water filled the room. It stopped and a slow melody came on, while in the background a person moved in a canoe through a forest.

Kori felt her body relaxing with the music and slowly she fell asleep.

Richard watched as Kori fell asleep. He wondered what her story was. She seemed to have two different personalities. First she was shy and happy and then suddenly dark, depressing and sad. He was really confused about why she had pulled her hand away and then ran to the washroom for no reason. And then she had started crying. Maybe he had reminded her of her problem. Or had he said something? Or maybe it was just his hand on hers. He didn't mean to scare her, guessing that was what happened. He was determined to make her feel more comfortable when she woke up.

30 minutes later…

Kori opened her eyes. At first she thought she was back in her apartment but hearing the slow music she realised she was still in the room with Richard. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Have a good nap?"

Kori jumped. Looking behind her she saw Richard standing there looking out the window. She nodded. "Yes."

Richard turned around and dragged one of the chairs over to the bed, sitting down on it. He looked at Kori. "So…ready to talk?"

Kori shifted over so she was sitting in front of Richard. She sighed, staring at the opposite wall. "My-my…" she broke off and stared at Richard, "my f-fiancée cheated on me…" Just saying it made Kori feel sad and depressed again. She wasn't ready to talk about the other reason she was there. Suddenly she felt as though she almost wanted to die.It felt like her head was exploding with pressure and she felt as though nothing mattered anymore.

"You have a fiancée?" Richard asked with a hint of disappointment.

"Had," Kori corrected, barely paying attention to him. She lay back down, as the pressure spread throughout her whole body. "He is gone now." She closed her eyes and a single tear ran down her face. She could not think of a time she had felt like this. Not even when Roy had first broken up with her.

Richard did the only thing he could think of. He patted her back and said, "It's okay."

Big mistake.

Kori suddenly sat up and pushed away from Richard, though he had not been that near to her. "It is not okay! Do you hear me? IT IS NOT OKAY!"

Richard jumped a little.

"YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH!" Kori's eyes blazed with tears and anger. Suddenly she gasped and put a hand on her mouth. The anger left her face and she stared at Richard with an expression that was a mixture of confusion and surprise for having an outburst. She burst into snobs. "I-I'm s-sorry."

Richard tried to hug her. "Kori I—"

"Please…do not touch me," Kori whispered. She backed away from him, tears running down her face. "Leave me alone…just leave me alone." She turned towards the door, opening it.

She ran out of the room, out of the hall, out of the building, and away from hope. She ran until she reached her apartment, and there she ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. She stumbled to the washroom and burst into real tears that shook her body and fell like puddles of water around her…along with the new red drips of blood that began falling all around Kori. For her she knew she need to use the pain to take her thoughts away from the thing she realised she had been thinking before…suicide.

Richard stared at the door where Kori had just left. He had just made the biggest mistake ever and felt like a loser.

This was a first. He had never felt more pathetic and helpless then he did at that moment. He had not been in the room with Kori for more then an hour and he had already screwed up. He was so confused though. He knew he had screwed up and could kick himself for saying such a stupid thing but maybe it was just that she didn't like him.

He smacked his head. "God help me."

"Uhh…"

Kori sat up, rubbing her eyes. Where was she? She looked around and found she was on the floor of the washroom. She must have fainted after crying so much and err…doing her other thing. She stood up and found that her pants had red blotches on them. There was also dried blood on the floor and on the counter top. Kori felt depression setting in again when she remembered why she was in the washroom and what had happened just a few hours before.

She quickly got up and cleaned the mess. She put on another pair of pants and a black long-sleeve shirt then, decided to call Rachel because she really needed to talk to a friend right then. Even though she had made a deal not to even do so much as write home, let alone call as to really start a new life, she really needed someone to talk to and to comfort her. She picked up her phone and dialled Rachel's house phone number. It was long distanced but still, Kori didn't care.

It rang five times before a slightly sarcastic voice came on. "If you don't know which house you've just called then you're seriously stupid. Obviously you're looking for me but I'm not here right now—or this answering machine wouldn't be on—so call back and blah, blah all that junk answering machines say. I suppose you should leave all your info after the beep but really I never check my answering machine so don't bother. If you're still on the line right now you're seriously a loser."

Kori sighed and hung up. She didn't want to leave a message—Rachel actually did check it—because she knew her friend would get worried about her. And Kori didn't want Rachel to become worried without the whole story…she might do something drastic. She called Gar's house but there was an answering machine too.

Kori slammed the phone down and plopped down on the couch. Great, just when she needed both of her best friends, they weren't home.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Kori sighed, getting up to answer it. She hoped it wasn't some random neighbour hoping to meet Kori because that was the last thing she needed. She opened the door to reveal Julia. She was chewing some pink bubble gum that matched her hair, popping it every so often.

"Hey Kor! I saw you run into your apartment an hour ago when I was outside. Everything go good today?" She arched an eyebrow. "You're home early! It's just after twelve."

Kori nodded. "It ends at four."

"And you're home now because-?"

"I-I encountered some conflict…" Kori said in a low voice.

Julia sent Kori a concerned look. "Kor, are you okay? You're looking really pale…exactly what conflict did you run into?" She reached up to place a hand on Kori's forehead.

On instinct Kori backed away.

"Kori?" Julia looked a little hurt and even more concerned.

"I-I," Kori suddenly realised that the two people she had backed away from that day were only trying to help her. She felt a few tears escape her eyes, "M-my fiancée—he cheated on m-me…" She tried to wipe away her tears. "That is what I am h-here…" Again not the whole story but honestly, Kori couldn't be expected to be ready to tell everything at the state she was in. She could barely get out the part of Roy leaving.

But that was all Julia needed to understand. She gathered Kori in her arms and rocked the girl back and forth. "Oh honey…you poor girl…I know exactly how you feel."

Kori looked up at her from the motherly embrace. "Y-you do?" She asked.

Julia nodded. She led both of them over to the couch and sat down. "My ex-boyfriend, Slade (A/N: he is a bad guy too), left about six years ago…he was all I lived for and all I died for…after that break up, I started drugs and other."

Kori had stopped crying. "That is what Roy did to me…but I did not turn to the drugs."

Julia nodded. "But Kori, you gotta let them do their job at the program…what exactly happened?"

Kori hesitated but she felt completely comfortable telling Julia. She felt as though she were talking to a slightly happier Rachel. Kori explained everything that had happened that morning, including running into the washroom and crying and then yelling at Richard. She left out what she had done when she came home, however.

"Oh Kori," Julia said, "You have to trust this guy. Okay maybe he was a bit too forward…"

"A bit?" Kori let a small giggle out.

Julia laughed. "Come on, he's a guy, he probably didn't know what to do," she hesitated, "but that doesn't mean he won't learn what to say and do later. I promise that he'll help you."

Kori sighed. "I wish I would know that for sure…I am without optimism."

Julia cocked her head. "I know a way to change that."

Kori looked at her. "You do?"

"Let's go play with Violet."

Kori actually smiled.

"Dude you are soo stupid!" Victor exclaimed, shaking his head. He took a swing of his large beer.

"Hey!" Richard exclaimed. "I resent that!"

Karen smiled sympathetically at Richard. "I have to agree with Vic on this one. That was not the right thing to do."

Richard folded his arms across his chest. "Okay then what was the right thing to do? If you guys are so smart then tell me exactly what I was supposed to do."

Victor shrugged. "You should know."

Richard glared at him. "Jeez the girl was crying and I've had no experience on comforting females in distress."

Karen smirked. "You mean Katharine never broke down in tears in front of you."

"That doesn't count," Richard grumbled. "Kitten doesn't do real crying."

Karen shook her head. "Dick, Dick, Kori has obviously been through a lot and the last thing she wants is some stranger—especially a guy—comforting her physically. You're supposed to help her through talking and most importantly by just listening to her. That's what most people want."

"Besides," Victor put in, "it sounds to me like this girl needs some brightening up in her life. You know, like being shown how to live again."

Richard rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…that's an idea."

"What is?" Karen asked.

"To teach Kori how to have fun again." Richard was already devising a plan in his head. He knew exactly how to help her.

Kori hesitantly knocked on room seven. She gasped as her black sweater slid down her arm revealing several red scars. She quickly pulled her sweater over both of her wrists before the door opened. Kori stood there, nervously biting her lip. "Hi."

Richard nodded, moving aside to let her come in. "Good, you came today."

Kori sat on the chair and looked at him. "My friends have paid for this. Whether I am enjoying it or not, I must go." She stared at the floor. "I-I am sorry for yesterday. I am not usually a person who yells."

Richard smiled gently. "Kori, it's fine. I'm the one who should be sorry. It's not okay, because if it were then obviously you wouldn't be here." He grinned, "But I'm going to change that."

Kori suddenly looked up at him, "Pardon me?"

Richard shook his head. "You'll see." He titled his head. "You need to learn how to live again."

Kori looked confused. "Learn to live? But I am already quite acquainted with how to live. I know how to breathe and blink and—"

Richard waved his hand. "Not literally. I mean," he chose his words carefully this time, "the events that have happened to you obviously made you forget how to actually enjoy life and have hope so I am going to help you find that again."

Kori's face lost the hard look it had been sporting before, becoming softer. "Thank you."

Richard smiled. "Listen, when was the last time you baked cookies?"

Kori raised her eyebrow. "Cookies?"

"Yeah, like chocolate chip cookies from scratch."

Kori thought back and remembered a time when her and Gar were only ten and oddly had their foster home to themselves.

It had been Gar's idea to invite Rachel over so he could show both girls his 'secret' recipe for chocolate chip cookies, which happened to be the regular chocolate chip cookie recipe, everyone used, Rachel had later told him. It had been one of the happiest days that Kori had had in a long time.

Kori actually smiled a real smile thinking about the memory and for that one moment, Richard saw the real Kori…he saw her open up to the happy girl she used to be. Richard knew he had to get her to be that girl again. And in that one moment, he also felt a funny feeling in his stomach that he still couldn't figure out what it was.

"So I take it, it was probably a long time ago?" He asked.

Kori nodded. "Fourteen years ago."

Richard nodded. "I thought so." He stood up and was about to offer her his hand when he remembered the day before and instead gave her a smile, "Come on…we're going to the kitchen."

Kori looked confused for a moment, then Richard's words sung in. As if on automatic, Kori jumped up and clapped happily, "Yay! We're going to bake cookies!"

Richard smiled inwardly, cheering that he had got her to become excited when a moment ago she had been depressed. "Yup." He walked out of the room, leading Kori down the hall to the kitchen.

Upon entering the large spotless kitchen, Kori saw that all the ingredients needed for the cookies were already set up. Kori followed Richard over to the granite countertop.

"You're lucky. I'm going to show you a secret recipe for baking chocolate chip cookies."

Kori giggled a little. "I hope you will not be like my best friend and simply bake them the 'normal' way."

Richard's eyes twinkled. "I assure you that these cookies will be the best cookies you will ever eat."

Kori grinned. "Alright then, Richard. Let us see."

Richard smirked. "You'll see alright." He put on an apron and handed one to Kori.

Kori put her hands on her hips. "Hey, why must I wear the one with the flowers?"

"Because you're a girl."

"You like pink."

Richard turned red. "I-you're right…just don't tell anyone." He muttered.

Kori smiled. "Your secret is safe with me." She put on the apron.

An hour later…

Kori had just finished mixing in the floor when Richard added the secret ingredient.

"Now…" Richard opened the cupboard and took out a white package, "time for the secret ingredient." He opened the package and poured the white into the beige batter.

Kori looked curiously at the package. "What is it Richard?"

Richard smiled at her. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Positive."

"Alright…beware, it's not that amazing, it's just a normal ingredient."

"Tell me," Kori persisted.

"Vanilla pudding mix."

Kori gasped, amazed. "Wow…how did you figure out that it would make the cookies taste good?"

Richard turned a little red. "I like working in the kitchen…it was trial and error. Not many people know that I actually like cooking."

Kori nodded. "But you should tell them! Why hide a good talent?"

Richard shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. My life is…complicated…"

"And mine isn't?"

Richard's eyes met Kori's and for a moment he saw all her pain and almost felt it too. He almost understood her for a second—the same with Kori to Richard—but a moment later it was gone as though it had never been there.

No, this wasn't what Richard wanted. He wanted Kori to feel happy, not remember her depressing life. He put on a smile. "Hey let's put these cookies in the oven!"

Kori nodded, not as happy as before, though. "Oh…yes of course."

While they waited for the cookies to bake, Kori told Richard about Gar and Rachel… her favourite topic. She also told him a little about her childhood and how they were like family to her. "And they should really not be so obvious with their deep affection for each other. I hope they shall get together will I am here, as I have told you before," she finished.

Richard smiled. "They sound like great friends."

"They are," Kori said. "And now it is your turn friend Richard, to tell me about your friends and childhood."

Richard gulped. "Childhood?"

"Yes."

Richard would have rather talked about anything than his childhood. "Well…I've got a couple of friends, you know. You've probably already met Karen. I know her and her husband Victor. They're really good friends of mine. I knew Vic since elementary school." He thought for a moment. "I also met this girl in high school called Julia. We were friends until she went with the wrong crowd. But five years ago I met her again from Karen and we've been friends ever since."

"Her name is Julia?"

"Yeah."

Kori wondered if she could be the same Julia that she had met at her apartment. But it probably wasn't. Julia was a popular name.

The beeper for the cookies suddenly went off. Richard jumped up but knew he had been saved from telling Kori about his childhood. For now…

'Maybe I'll tell me someday when we're better friends…if we ever become better friends,' he thought. He walked over to the oven, opening it, letting a wave of delicious cookie smell out. He took the tray out. "Cookies are done!" He called to Kori.

Kori walked over to him. "Are you sure they are done?"

Richard nodded. "I always bake these cookies and they always take the same amount of time to bake." He took out a spatula and moved each cookie onto a rack.

"We just have to waited five minutes for them to cool," Richard explained.

"This will be hard!" Kori exclaimed. "They smell like heaven."

When five minutes had passed, Richard put the cookies on a plate and stuck them on the counter between Kori and himself, placing two glasses of milk beside the plate.

Richard clapped his hands. "Dig in!"

Kori took a cookie and bit into it. She chewed and swallowed, then suddenly smiled. "Oh Richard they are simply delicious!"

Richard smiled, biting into a cookie. "Told ya so."

Kori laughed. "Now I will have to show you one of my recipes."

"Cool."

Richard secretly felt pleased with himself while he watched Kori demolish all the cookies on the plate. Before he'd had a chance to finish one she'd already had three. He'd never seen anyone eat as fast as she did besides Victor. It made him happy that he was actually making some progress and accomplishing something.

Kori actually smiled at a random person on the bus on her way home and was feeling rather light and happy when she was invited over to Julia's apartment. Violet was playing at a friend's house so Julia made coffee and tea and took out some cookies.

They both sat at the kitchen table.

"So…" Julia raised an eyebrow, "can I ask what drug you're on?"

Kori giggled. "I am not on the 'drug'! Can I not just be happy?" She asked innocently.

"You can and you have but I've never seen you this happy before."

'You should have seen me before,' Kori thought. "Oh I just had a most enjoyable day."

Julia took a sip of her tea. "Something big must of happened to make you actually smile for more than a second…or two."

Kori smiled. "I am beginning to sound much like Rachel."

"Rachel?" Julia asked confused. "Oh yeah, that best friend of yours." She took another sip of her tea. "She sounds like fun."

"Oh she is!" Kori exclaimed. "I bet you would both be great acquaintances. You are both very similar."

"Really?"

"Yes. You both dress quite similar and you drink the tea like Rachel." Kori thought for a moment. "You talk the same and you are both understanding and always listen to my shameful complaining."

Julia blushed a little. "Thanks…but your complaining is not shameful…I'm just happy to be your friend." It was again getting too emotional for her since she wasn't used to having a friend so full of emotions and sentiments as Kori was, so she quickly changed the subject. "You still haven't told me what happened today that's got you all smiley about."

Kori smiled remembering the day. "Richard and me made chocolate chip cookies and he revealed his most secret recipe to me. They were delicious! You must try them Julia. I am sure you would enjoy them."

Julia smiled. "I knew that Richard would help you."

Kori looked confused. "Richard?"

"Yeah that's his name, isn't it?"

"Yes but how are you acquainted with him?"

Julia shrugged. "Didn't I tell you? We met five years ago when I went to the program. I knew him, Karen, and Vic in high school but we lost contact when I joined the gangsters."

Kori gasped, "So you were indeed the one he told me about today."

"Probably"—Julia grinned—"And I knew that you would just have to have a little bit of faith in him."

Kori looked at the floor. "I actually did not have much faith in him this morning," she said quietly.

Julia gave her a sympathetic smile. "Don't get down too hard on yourself—I'm sure he didn't have too much faith in you or himself either. But I guess he did a good job."

Kori nodded. "I wonder what he will have planned the next time we meet. Tomorrow we are to do something as a group."

"Oh you'll like that," Julia said. "You get to meditate and reflect a lot."

Before Kori could answer, someone threw open the door with a crash, ran inside and slammed it shut.

It was Violet.

Julia immediately stood up at the site of her adopted daughter and gave a gasp. Kori quickly turned around upon seeing Violet she tried to hold in her laughter as she took in the site of the girl. It was not what she had expected to see.

Violet was wearing a pink and yellow clown outfit. Her face had been painted a powdery white and her mouth and eyes were encircled with red paint. She also wore a round red ball on her nose so that she resembled a clown. She was also covered in mud.

Julia's eyes widen as she glared at the girl, a little fear passing in her eyes. "Violet, what the hell happened? Why are you dressed like that?"

Violet smiled sheepishly. "Well see Susannah's Aunt was visiting and we all know that she does costumes and make-up for musicals and so it was Maddalina's idea that we ask her to paint our faces and dress us up. She just happened to have some costumes in her car so I asked her to make me a clown since I know you love them!" She grinned with a hint of mischief in making the last comment.

Julia put her hands on her hips. Kori suddenly noticed—for the first time since she had met Julia—that Julia seemed a little uncomfortable. "Violet…" she warned threateningly.

Kori looked confused and Violet must of noticed because she explained. "Auntie's afraid of clowns."

Julia eyes became small slits. "Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am too!"

"Ha!" Violet smiled.

"Alright whatever, so I am…" Julia grumbled

Kori gave a small smile.

"And why are you covered in mud."

Violet averted her gaze, looking a little scared. She caught site of Kori. "Oh hey Kori! I didn't know you were here."

"Don't change the subject Violet."

"I-I slipped," she said hurriedly.

"Yeah that's why there's mud in shirt."

"You know, sarcasm is a bad habit to get into."

"So is lying," Julia said, looking hard at Violet, waiting for the small girl to say truth.

Violet stared back at Julia, she as hard. But after a minute, she sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you. I-I was walking across the playground when Greg came over and asked me why I was dressed so stupidly. I said it wasn't stupid and then he told me not to talk back and then he tried to punch me but I defended myself and so we fell in the mud. He still tried to attack me while I defended myself and then someone called him and he just got up and ran away."

Julia was white by the time Violet was finished speaking. "He a-attacked you again?"

Violet nodded solemnly.

"Please, who is this Greg that you speak of?" Kori asked.

"My ex's brother's son."

Despite Kori's earlier conversation with Violet and Julia, she was still feeling happy and light when she went to bed. She hadn't even thought about going near the washroom—except to do the normal stuff—that night.

But it wasn't until she woke up in a cold sweat with tears on her face from a nightmare of what had happened only months ago, that Kori remembered. She was reminded of her break-up and painful operation. And she fell back into depression...again.

Richard had been able to blind her—but only for a day.

A/N: So long enough for ya? I know happy but depressing man! Well I never said this would be a completely happy story.

There will be more on this Greg character, which by the way if you don't already know he is Gizmo. Wally will most likely be in the next chapter. Also Slade will appear as a villain and, well I don't want to give away the rest!

PLEASE review because those keep me going. If I get a lot you can bet I will update really soon.

Violet