"Oh. My. God," I said slowly to myself, making sure that this wasn't just a nightmare. I managed to breathe in and out slowly while I began to feel as though someone were shaking my head. I collapsed against the walls, showered in gold, and onto the cold ivory floors, laughing hysterically. "X'hal," I continued, "I cannot believe this…I-I just can't…"

Richard looked at me with dull blue eyes. "Kori, just calm down a bit…"

My laughter died down within a minute after he said that. I could feel my anger daring to burst out of my system. Anybody could tell that we were both the last people either of us wanted to be stuck in an elevator with. He stood stiffly in one corner, and I sat in the opposite. A strange silence hung in the air, and part of me wanted to embrace it and be glad that we weren't speaking, and the other part told me that silence wasn't going to solve anything. I lightly touched two fingers to my temple.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" The words spilled out of my lips and I almost slapped my hand over my mouth. "Of all people, I can't believe you told someone like Donna all those things."

"Whatever Donna said is bullshit."

I stared at him with incredulous eyes. "Don't give me that excuse."

He joined me on the floor, still in the opposite side of the elevator, and muttered, " She's been fueling rumors about everyone in the building since she got here. Just don't listen to her."

"So I'm not 'trash that you don't need anymore'? This time tears were not welling up in my eyes like they normally would when I got frustrated. I was angry this time; I wasn't about to fall weak to my knees and forgive him so easily for wasting nearly four years of my life.

"I hate you," I spoke, my words full of confidence to prove this statement. For a slight moment he seemed to be taken aback by it, but wasted no time, composing himself quickly.

"I can't say I'm sorry. I did what I had to do to keep you safe," he said strongly, and almost protectively.

"Safe from what? We had already gotten rid of Slade and the rest of them. I…I don't understand…" I said frustrated. I ran my eyes over his face, searching for answers.

"I couldn't lose you. Not just to Slade; I have other enemies too. There will always be somebody who wants to hurt you just to get to me. You never would've been safe if they saw us together." He sighed.

"Do you think it was the right thing to do? To have me hate you for four years? Is this what you wanted?" I spat out.

"What makes you so special?" he asked, raising his voice suddenly. "I've had tons of women hate me before for different things. How is it that you're the only one that makes me regret everything I've done- not even Bruce can do that!"

"Because I've suffered!" I blurted out. It had slipped out of my mouth uncontrollably. My words echoed in my ear and a stunned silence hung between the two of us. Our eyes danced around the small room, and no one spoke for what seemed like ten minutes. I wondered if I was ever going to get home. There was nothing left to talk about with our past- it would always be too overbearing to discuss with even a few words. I decided to sleep. I slipped my thin sweater off and put it underneath my head. I was careful to keep my legs tightly together since I was wearing a dress. I blacked out almost instantly, unaware until now of how tired I had become in just the little time I had spent with Richard.

------------------------------

'Please be home, please be home…' I pleaded silently to myself.

But to my dismay, I awoke to the same dim, flickering lights above me. Richard was still sitting in the corner, his head in his hands, but this time he was fast asleep. His head lay on his chest as he breathed in and out quietly. I remembered what it used to be like before, thinking that Richard and I would be inseparable. I had gotten used to the feeling of safety whenever I was around him, as if I knew nothing could hurt me. But that Richard was long gone, as it seemed. Then again, so was the old Kori.

I would have been lying if I said I wasn't still falling all over him. He was different now. His hair wasn't spiked in that boyish fashion anymore. Instead it was grown slightly longer, down to the neck but not past it, uncombed and unruly- I had never known the dirty look to be so attractive until now. The lean body was now gone and taken place by a more muscular figure, not too buff and not too slim. His strong features were still the same. His eyes, though, were a dark blue- he was tired, not just from the night before, but for many nights. He had changed, maybe even more than I did. It was true that he was different now, in some ways I couldn't even describe, but I could still feel my heart longing for the Richard I used to know.

With a familiar, cheerless feeling at the pit of my stomach, I turned my head away from his sleeping figure and sighed. "I miss him," I whispered out loud.

"Miss who?"

Embarrassed, I whipped my head to his direction. I didn't know he was awake! I was still lying down with my head on my sweater. "I, uh…no one. I just…what time is it?"

He glanced at his watch. It was a Rolex. "Twelve twenty-six. It's been five hours since the elevator stopped."

It became quiet again.

"You've changed," came the husky, velvety voice from Richard's mouth. I stopped myself from turning red when I felt his eyes roaming over me.

I knew I had grown an inch taller, making me 5'7. My hair was now as red as ever since I had tried becoming a brunette. I kept my slim figure and tanned skin. I had been told that my features became more serious, that I no longer had that spark of freedom in my eyes. Honestly, I realized that I had gotten worse over the years rather than better.

"Really? I still feel the same." The words came out with no emotion whatsoever; I sounded more cross than I did well rested from a long sleep. It was lame. I was fully and totally aware of how lame that reply was, mainly because it was a straight-up lie. But he didn't seem to notice my dishonest face, and if he did, he didn't show it…I think.

"Are you still in the superhero business?" I questioned him with big eyes, trying not to make it obvious that I was curious to find out if my savior from the week before.

He nodded once, his eyes sharp on my face, watching my reaction. "Yeah. I had to take over for Bruce; he was getting too old."

"So what's this stuff between you guys and Harper Incorporated?" I asked. "I heard that one of G&W's vice presidents and one of the co-presidents of Harper used to be good friends."

"They ripped off our ideas. It didn't really matter anyway, because I already hated the guy from high school," he stated a matter-of-factly, almost bored.

"High school? Who was the guy?"

"You knew him. Remember Roy Harper?"

Roy Harper? The co-president of Harper Inc.? I couldn't imagine slim, red-haired (a case almost worse than mine), apologetic yet funny old Roy being the president of anything. I had always remembered him as the flirty one of our senior class, never the serious type…or maybe that was just with me. I did remember Raven telling me about how he tried to hit on her once.

"How could I forget Roy?" A smile slid on my face. It was the first one that I had on for the last two weeks. I was about to ask Richard whether he was still the same or not, but then another question came to mind. "Wait…what was your deal with him in high school?"

A sudden look crossed Richard's face. He looked flabbergasted, as if he had no words in his mouth. I almost giggled. He had no reason.

"I hated him…just 'cause."

There was an awkward silence in the small, compressed box we were trapped in. After a few minutes, he spoke again. "It's too bad about the rain, isn't it?"

There was a smirk on his face, and I smiled softly at the familiar question. He had asked me that the first time we spoke to each other. "Not really," I said in a well-rehearsed tone. It was well remembered, this moment between us used to intrude my thoughts every day four years ago.

His eyes lit up for the first time since I saw him again. "You don't like storms."

"Or the winds."

"Jump City must be a hard place for you to live in then."

We both burst out laughing. Suddenly, the laughter stopped. Our eyes swept past one another's awkwardly; I tried to avert my eyes every spot of the room except for Richard's eyes. I couldn't keep my eyes off Richard's face for long and locked into a long, winding trance. I stared at him, wishing more than anything that the future would never happen. That this moment would last forever because in that moment there was no resentment between us; every conflict was forgotten. Richard stared right back at me, his dark eyes soft, and it was easy to pretend that he felt the same way. So that's what I did. I pretended to make the moment sweeter.

Suddenly, a weird clanging noise rang throughout the elevator, and I covered my ears instantly. The elevator jerked slightly, and five pairs of hands (that was ten hands) were prying the elevator doors open. A crack of light at the upper end of the opening doors shone in my eyes, and soon that crack became a big enough hole for me to fit into it. A horrible screeching sound began to echo throughout the elevator.

"Hey, I need both of you to get out fast before the elevator goes down!" yelled one of the men.

I took a moment to take a quick glance at Richard. "Come'on, let's go!" he bellowed, trying to drown out the noise. I tried to fight off the urge to melt when he took hold of my hand and helped me climb out swiftly.

It was chaos after that. The only thing I heard then was the shrieking to the elevator, skidding against the shaft walls, and then a sickening plunge at the bottom. I was speechless.

The building was practically empty. Everybody had gone home, with the exception of the nosy gossipers of the department. Donna was not there, lucky for her, because I would have beaten the crap out of her if she were. Though there was one more elevator still in order, I made myself take the stairs all the way down to the first floor, even though I was on one of the highest floors of the building. I was never going to look at elevators or stairs the same way again. I didn't realize that Richard was taking the stairs as well until he called my name from behind me.

"Kori!"

I stopped to look at him catch up to me. As soon as he fell into step with me, I began to walk again.

"You know, I just spoke to Gene," he began slowly. I couldn't tell if what he was going to say next was bad or good. "And he said he was willing to give you an extra day for our interview."

"Really?" I began to walk slower. "Then pick me up at my place tomorrow and we'll have the interview at the café or something."

My eyes went wide instantly after I said those words. Did I, Kori Anders who hated Richard Grayson, just ask my boss out? Technically it wasn't a date date, but it was still an interview date. I tried to pretend not to notice, but from the side of my eye I had a clear view of a weird look beginning to form on Richard's face. From his expression, I could already tell that I had just shoved us into a slightly awkward territory.

"Okay, that didn't come out right," I said defensively, "But I seriously need to finish this article as soon as I can."

"Gene is sending Michael with us."

"Michael? The guy that interviewed me? Why?"

"Gene just wants to make sure that we aren't…messing around."

Oh. This was great. My boss thought we were going to take advantage of the time we had together. I slapped my hand to my cheek.

I sighed. "As long as this article is finished and over with, I'm good with anything,"I muttered.

"Fine. Is eight o'clock good? It's the only time I have available."

"Um…sure." I scribbled my address quickly. He was still stiff around me. I could feel a guarded sense of limitation from him. The stairway seemed longer than it already was as I walked down beside him. It was silent and uncomfortable. About an hour later, we reached the first floor.

We faced each other slowly. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said softly.

"Yeah."

And then we went our separate ways.

That night, as I lay in my bed, a weird feeling swept into mind. So I couldn't avoid Richard as I had previously planned, and now I was going to have to see him constantly. Richard and I weren't going to be strangers, much to my dismay, so we were going to have to be friends. I could do that. Couldn't I?

I could try to forget that he was my first and only. I could try to put aside the disastrous effect that our harsh breakup had on my life. I could try my hardest to ignore that mighty attraction I felt to him. But I had tried that already, and it had turned out even worse than the problem itself. Everything, back then, was swept under the rug without any closure whatsoever, and soon it was all blown out in my face. No, that wouldn't work.

The sad truth was that I could not forget any of those things, because I had never felt so overwhelmingly drawn to anyone in my entire life. In the four years since we'd seen each other, I questioned the particular magnetism we had for each other. It was true. We had never planned on meeting at Jump City High School, and we sure as hell didn't know that we were going to work together in the same building, in the same department, on the same floor, and for the same person. The fact that we got stuck on the same elevator seemed to make this issue even harder to answer. Was our relationship real? Or was I so caught up with everything else happening in my life that I imagined it? What was it about Richard? Yeah, he was handsome and talented. Sure, he could make me laugh. But a ton of other guys were too.

Sometimes when I think of Richard, and now even more when I see him, I get this weird achy feeling for the old Kori. The one who used to be less serious and more fun, carefree, and able to let go of the world around her. There was something vaguely enchanting about that time. There are always certain qualities that you possess carelessly, characteristics that you don't always know about. You couldn't retrieve them when they were gone, and the realization of those missing qualities made them impossible to regain.

I tossed in my bed. I knew what to do. I knew I couldn't control my basic response to Richard's effect on me with his words or his actions, but I could control my behavior. I was tough and single-minded then, and I still was now, only I was stronger and had more self-control now. I would contain myself. I wouldn't flirt, want, sulk, grieve or even think over anything that had to do with Richard. I made this promise silently to myself. It was a strong pact, one that would be hard and easy to break at the same time. Hard, because I knew myself now more than ever, because I loved myself too much to have something like Richard happen to me twice. And then again it would be easy to disobey myself, because I was usually drawn to things that were off-limits…things like Richard…

------------------------------

"Wow. I feel sorry for you," Raven said after I told her about last night.

"That doesn't mean we've suddenly become friends. I don't think we ever will be," I said a matter-of-factly. The both of us were lying on my bed. It was seven o'clock, and I was still in my work clothes. There was something going on tonight, a meeting or something, but I couldn't quite pinpoint the exact event I had planned for tonight.

"Work was hell today. I think I'm going to take a nap before I get ready."

Raven gave me a small smile. And just before she closed the door, she stuck her head in between the door and door jam. "I'm proud of you."

And then she left.

It was hotter than ever now that was sitting in my own room of failure and sorrow. I stripped down to my bra and my underwear, throwing my clothes in my hamper, and then lay back down on my bed for a long time. I lay there thinking about everything.

The truth was, work was nothing different than what it always was. The thing I was worrying about was what had happened in the elevator last night. I didn't like fighting, so most of the time I resorted to hatred and despise. I lay still on my bed, generally hating everything and everyone I knew.

I hated Galfore, because he was never there for me. I hated Koma, because she never let me know what it was like to have a sister- she was selfish and ran away without thinking of me. I hated Donna because she was a bitch and people still liked her. I hated Raven, because she knew dwelled on problems for too long and she never cared what people thought of her. I wished I were like her, because if I were I never would have listened to Donna and left early and gotten stuck on that elevator. I hated Gar, mainly because of his time-consuming relationship with my best friend. I hated Richard, because of how he made me feel. And lastly, I hated myself and my life. Nothing was beautiful in my world.

I heard the doorbell. I refused to get it. "Raven, door!" I yelled.

I waited and listened as Raven's footsteps seemed to get softer and softer as she went down the stairs. Of course she answered the door. Usually I was the one who was excited about doorbells and phone rings, and Raven was the one who was lazy to answer it. I could imagine her grunting right now just before opening the door. Then I heard Raven using her angry voice. I tried to figure out whom she would be talking to; nowadays, she rarely talked in rage. Maybe she and Gar had a fight and she was talking to him right now. Or maybe it was Raven's boss. She always told me about how bitchy her new boss was. Things like that could get Raven to talk angrily.

I concentrated on the sounds. I strained to hear the visitor, but the walls were too thick for me to make out who was talking back. It was a deep voice, most likely a male. Still, Raven's voice was more powerful in the background.

Now they were coming up the stairs. The footsteps didn't have the slow, easy pace that Raven walked at. These were fast and almost furious, as if she was trying to keep the person from coming upstairs. The second pair of footsteps were slow and heavy. Was it a guy? Was Raven bringing a guy upstairs? The chances of it being Garfield were smaller now, because his were always fast and light, full of energy.

I heard the deep voice again, and this time it was closer. It was a guy!

Suddenly I realized that the footsteps hadn't taken the expected stop at Raven's room. My room was further down the hall. Instead they were coming in the direction of my bedroom, louder and louder with each passing second. With a sudden burst of panic, I sat up from my bed, frozen with the realization that I was in my bra and undies and some guy was coming into my bedroom.

"Kori!" came Raven's voice. I could hear the anger seething out of her. "Some jerk's here to see you!"

Some "jerk"? Now who would Raven hate so much that she would call him a jerk?

I sat frozen on my bed. The footsteps were louder, closer than I thought they were. If I leaped up to stand against the door to keep it from opening…no, I wouldn't have enough time. If I stayed where I was, then they would have seen me. If I got up to grab my bathrobe (or at least my towel)…

"Kori? I'm opening the door…"

The doorknob seemed to turn faster than I could've imagined it to turn. I tried to shout. Nothing was uttered from my mouth. My throat had suddenly gone dry, and the word "stop" came out as a parched, burnt silence. At the sound of her voice I leapt to my feet.

The door opened.

There was Raven. And indeed, there was a man. A tall, familiar, and handsome one. One I hated.

"Oh God!" she yelled in surprise and shock. She slapped a hand to her forehead at the sight of what was barely covering me. I could tell she was scolding herself.

The guy stood there with almost every single emotion played out on his face. He looked captivated and amused. He didn't take his eyes off of me as quickly as he should have.

I began to feel as if there was an earthquake just then. My head was beginning to get fuzzy. My heart was beating as loud as a drum. My throat began to get even drier. My naked, exposed skin was burning.

"Richard," I said faintly. Then I slammed the door loudly in his face.

I strode around the room, my face blazing. Richard had just seen me half-naked. In my bra. Nobody in the world ever saw me like that except for Raven, my mother, and Koma!

I was pacing around in such a small circle that I was making myself dizzy. It took me a few minutes to calm myself down from my hysterics. I walked over to my walk in closet across the room and mindlessly grabbed a pair of skinny jeans. I pulled a vintage t-shirt over my head and took a quick peek in the mirror. My face was still flushed and red, and I had no makeup on. It didn't matter anyway; I never put any on. I put on a pair of bright red pumps, tied a playful pearl necklace around my neck, and let my hair down loosely from it previous ponytail. I sighed and took one last long look at the mirror before heading to the door with my small laptop and recorder shoved in my purse.

I stumbled at the top of my stairs and grabbed the railing before I fell down the spiraling flight. I forced myself to take a deep breath, possibly my first in the last ten minutes. I walked into the kitchen with a nice, big smile, as if nothing had happened.

I looked at Richard. Richard looked at me. Raven continued to switch her gazes between the two of us.

He was leaning against the counter. With a small questioning smile, he greeted me. "Hello."

"Are you ready?" I asked hastily. I could still feel my cheeks burning.

"Yeah. Michael's meeting us at the café." His face was as red as mine.

"Okay then, let's go." I led him quickly out the door right just before Raven opened her mouth.

------------------------------

I was sitting in the most uncomfortable chair ever. It wasn't uncomfortable because of the chair, but because of the situation I was in. I had been sitting in it for almost three hours just sipping coffee, typing, and asking questions. I wondered once again about the wisdom of my career choice. I wondered if maybe G&W had any openings in manufacturing artillery. Or if they offered positions for those guys who pressed the buttons in the elevators. Or maybe even Donna's job, which would be nice. Her job didn't seem hard at all; it seemed like she never did a thing to help. Anything except for what I was doing right now.

"How do you balance your work and your social life?" Michael questioned.

"I have friends who help me with that."

I typed some more and then looked up at him.

"Are you seeing anybody?" I tried to make myself look bored instead of anticipating for an answer. I lowered my eyes a little bit more and curved my mouth down to a straightened lip. I don't think it worked.

"Are you asking me that that as a journalist or as Kori Anders?" He was trying to hide a grin.

I flashed him a look. I knew I was impatient. "As a journalist. Now answer it," I snapped.

He smiled at my impatience. "No. I've been on and off with this one girl. But other than that I haven't been dating"

I could tell he was trying to be careful with his words. He pitied me. He was trying not to hurt me. I felt a slight pang of hurt, but I ignored it. I tried very hard not to move my face one single millimeter. Casually, I picked up my coffee mug and sipped delicately.

The café was crowded. People were staring at us from their tables, whispering and pointing. It also didn't help that we were sitting near the window. The waiter, who was coming to our table more than he had to, had been giving me flirty smiles for the thirty minutes that we had been here. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. Michael, who was sitting beside me, and I took turns asking the questions.

"Have you ever given any thought to living a normal life, without the responsibilities of being the vice president of a growing industry or the paparazzi?" Michael waited for the question with anticipation and excitement.

"I've tried it. Once…with a girl four years ago."

I finally looked up from my laptop and stared at him. His eyes looking at every object in the room except for me. He was serious. He was talking about us. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out of my mouth. I kept silent.

"I made a lot of mistakes then. I was a teenager. A kid. I showed my emotions, something that makes you vulnerable in our business today. I was very human then." He was answering Michael, but he was looking at me.

There were too many thoughts for me to contain in my head. I found myself wishing that I had a separate head for each of the thoughts. First, this was the first time I had ever heard him talk like this. It was something I couldn't describe. From the way he ignored me during work hours, I would never have guessed that he would remember anything about us. And then there was the thing about the simple life not working for him. Why couldn't I see it coming four years ago? Why didn't he tell me that he had run away because he was tired of living the normal life?

Michael was practically ready to jump out of his chair. I wanted so badly to hit him for being so excited about a topic that made so depressed. A topic that was, unknown to him, about me. "Was it successful? And what about this girl…where is she now? What was her name?"

"The girl? I…" His voice trailed off in uncertainty. He wasn't looking at me anymore, much less at Michael. We all sat there like rocks, awkward and wanting to move on. I broke the silence.

"You know what? I think I have enough information already." I began to pack up my things as fast as I could.

Michael looked at me totally amused. "So it is true what they say about you two," he mused, as if this was some kind of a joke. He looked at Richard. "She's the girl, isn't she?" he asked, referring to me. He looked at me like I was some kind of a monkey.

"Get out of here or you're fired," Richard said strongly, ignoring Michael's curiosity. He gave Michael a look that plainly stated that he was dismissed. Michael took this as his cue to leave. He shook both of our hands and left quickly.

Richard and I walked outside and stood on the sidewalk.

"You taking a cab?" he asked, raising his voice over the passing cars and people.

It was amazing, the nightlife of Gotham. It was almost like a replica of New York City. It was almost twelve and people were still strolling down the streets like the sun was still out. Cars were still parked along the sidewalk and out on the streets.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah."

He stepped out a couple of feet from the sidewalk and whistled until a taxi car stopped by shortly. "Wanna share this one?"

I climbed in with him and gave him a guarded look, as if to tell him that this wasn't going to make up for what he did. He seemed to accept it, and the whole ride home seemed even longer than when we were going down the stairs together. When we reached my penthouse building, I paused and looked at him before I climbed out.

"You know," I started, "This doesn't mean you get an apology from me yet. I still hate you as much as I did when I came to this job."

He stared down at his hands first, and then straight into my eyes, with a serious, remorse gaze with guilt written all over his eyes. "I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did, whether it be now or ever. I am just content that you know why I did what I did."

The look on his face made me feel even worse about our situation. I closed the door gently and walked to the doors of my apartment, greeted by the doorman. I never looked back.

I was sleepless that night. And surprisingly, something good came out of it.

Gotham's Heir Revealed

By Kori Anders

With new trade for stocks, manufacturing of artillery, and a global newspaper, G&W, which stands for Grayson and Wayne, has become one of Gotham's most dominant and influential industries in the few years it has been established. But who is the man behind all of the grandeur? Richard Grayson, the youngest vice president in recorded history. Twenty-two and single, he is a paparazzi favorite. His life of opulence is far more than most men of his societal status. However, at many times attempts for alteration are not always successful. The simple life proved to be too monotonous and dawdling for this industrialist, who himself admits that he thrives on variety and change. His love life remains occupied by an unidentified female, one he refuses to name. And of course, anyone who is always on the cover of People magazine has to have his or her own set of fans. "He is so handsome. And that mysterious attitude- its just something that comes off as attractive," says Violet Garner, an enthusiast. Striking looks and mysterious personas- two characteristics that leave people wanting for more. So what's in the future of G&W? "You'll have to wait and see," says the VP. And who knows? With the Grayson and Wayne duo at it, Gotham might just be on its way to being the next city of commerce and diligence.

I think I made him sound too good.

Author's Note: Thank you to all those faithful reviewers who have been reviewing my story. It seems like the reviews for Teen Titan fics have gone dead since the series was canceled. I work really hard on every chapter that I write, and I want to know more of your thoughts on the story. Please review! I want to get as many reviews as there are hits! Love you all!

-sTaRfIrExrObIn