1
Sorry for any spelling mistakes!
Disclaimer: Still don't own the Teen Titans
Chapter Five: What Remains Mine Forever More, Will Be Yours Too
As humans we are constantly searching for something that will make us complete us. We are always trying to find our place in this great universe, our niche. Somewhere were we can fit in.
Roberta Rangel had always looked for a place to fix in. In high school she desperately strived to be like those who where worshiped like Gods, and through her metal mouth and tangled mousy brown hair , had failed completely. In college she had relationships that lasted two weeks before the man had took off running for the hills, sometimes literary. She currently lived in a rinky dink apartment on the east side of Gotham. She had 5 cats whom she fed constantly thus making them super fat cats that did not walk but waddled destined to die of a heart attack before they hit their Cat Stride.
She had been working at S.T.A.R. Labs since college, 10 years ago ( taking time away when the company had been closed). She still hadn't married, no children, and had no home to call her own. But still she had found her place amongst her work. As a top reacher at the company she had devolved many new technicians to further help software companies instate security devices on all electronics. She worked always till late at night and came in early in the morning. She didn't have many friends at the office, just the few that would talk to her time to time, including Sam the guard.
She finished decoding a file and saved it onto the main computer and sighed. She pushed up her black thick lenses and fiddled with the band holding her pony tail together. She stood from her work bench walked towards the elevator deciding it was time for a quick snack. Her flat, no heel black shoes squeaked on the white polished tile floor. Her socks too long for her shoes scrunched up around her heels. She brushed brown hairs that stayed in front of her glasses away from her face and went into the elevator.
After getting her coffee and sandwich in the break room, which was empty at two o'clock in the morning. She sat down at a white plastic table in a small plastic picnic fold chair. She ate constantly in the plain white room with very few posters of food on the walls, as the florescent lights above sat dully casting they're fake sunlight across the room. When she finished her sandwich, threw her wrapper in the trash, and carefully wiped all the crumbs from the table using a napkin to gently sweep them off the edge and onto her hand, she took out her cell phone.
She dialed her home phone number and let the answering machine answer and after the beep said in a babying voice: " Hello my kitties, hello!" Meanwhile at her apartment her five cats lazily lifted their fat heads from the couch where they lay and looked at the answering machine. " I'm so sorry I'm getting home late tonight. I hope you guys enjoyed the meatloaf I cut up for you. Oh, Snappy I hope Oreo didn't eat your share again!" Snappy very slowly raised her head at the sound of her name and meowed as Oreo liked his lips. " Well I hope to be home soon, I love you guys! Bye-bye!"
She hung up the phone happily and left the room. On her way back to her lab she passed Sam the night security guard and gave him a friendly greeting.
She got to her lab and saved the decoded file onto a CD disk. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She then up then up the disk into a cabinet and gathered her things. She left the room and once again bored the elevator. She pressed the first floor button and it started to descend. But when it got to the first floor it kept going down. She pressed the button again but it did not stepped then went past the garage level and she wondered where this went .When the doors opened she found herself in a long passage way that she had never seen.
She stepped out and followed the passage way. She came to a door at the end of the hall and opened it. She ended up inside an odd room. A small lab it seemed to be. This had most defiantly not been on the map she was given. She walked past tanks holding baby mice and rats. They seemed to be dead. She was careful not to make any noise as she examined bottles of chemicals.
She stepped over large black wires that lay sprawled uniformly across the floor. Her hands shook nervously and she pushed up her glasses.
" Hello?" she whispered. " Anyone here?" No answer, but frightening silence. She hugged her large burlap purse close to herself.
A sound!
She turned quickly, but saw nothing. She turned back not seeing the dark figure passing behind her. She continued forward following the wires in curiosity.
She looked down watching her feet. The wires stopped. She looked up at a large tank, and her body went cold.
" Oh God!" she whispered to herself. She took a blind step back and hit a table, knocking several bottles down. The bottles fell and shattered on the floor.
She looked around quickly and started to run. She ran into the hall in which she entered from. She went quickly and went through another door. White storage facilities in rows. She ran down them not paying attention to which she was going down.
She ran and ran then hit something. She stepped back.
" Please, don't! I didn't mean to! I swear I won't tell anyone! Please! Please!" she begged. The figure waved a gloved finger at her.
She screamed only once, then silence.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Oh unhallowed halls that rise above the sea
They know me as I know them
What is mine forevermore will be yours too
What I have forever taken be taken back
Let go of a past unhidden,
Let go of a name that does not belong
Let go of me
I am not here
Salty ocean waves spalshed up against the empty shores. Small birds floated quietly on the water. A person can tell when a place is dead.
Kori walked up stone steps leading into the large glass T-shaped building. She put her hand up to a scanner. The metal doors opened.
Titans Tower knew her after all these years.
Dust covered the white sheets that his furniture left behind by the towers old residents. She walked up the main stairs and entered the old common room.
A man stood at the opposite end looking out the large windows that spread themselves so far they were not longer windows but a wall. He wore black slacks and a blue shirt. He looked normal, an average guy, with average skin .His hands slipped into his pockets and he whistled softly. He looked over the ocean at Jump City the way she had seen him do many times.
She walked up next to him and quietly looked out too. After a few minutes they acknowledged each other's presents.
" Kori Anders." his reflection said.
" Victor Stone." her reflection said.
They and the tower knew better.
They turned to each other and hugged.
" You look good." he commented.
" So do you." she reviled smiling.
" I was interested when I got your call a few weeks ago. Wasn't expecting that." he said smiling. The same old Cyborg.
" I should've called sooner. It's been too long my friend." she replied. Same old Starfire.
" So how have you been?" he asked.
" I've been great. I went to college, I worked for the newspaper, have an apartment. You know all the good stuff." She answered with a smile." You?"
He sighed, " Went to college, I'm working in Development for NASA. Have a wife, Be, two children Matt is two and Kayla is five. I have a yellow dog, Sam. You know all the good stuff." he replied smiling.
" Can you believe this place is still standing?" she asked looking around them.
" Hey! It's not a total piece of crap. I built it, so it will last centuries" he said.
" Have you spoken to the others?" she asked.
" Not for years. It's weird, we just lost contact, after..." he trailed off, " I miss them."
" Me too." she answered.
" You still in the business?" he asked with eyebrow raised.
" No are you?" she asked
" Hell no!" he said laughing. " I think I'm too old now even if I wanted too."
" Still talk to Clark?" she asked smiling.
" Sometimes. But you know him, he always has the world on his shoulders." Victor replied, " I met Lex Luthor once he's an ass."
" Well then," she said laughing. They stopped talking for a few minutes. What do you say to someone you haven't talked to for 15 years?
" Do you still talk to..." she asked quietly.
" No." he answered with the same tone. " Not since you died."
" Cyborg I..." she tried to say but nothing came out.
" Starfire we all thought you were dead. He was broken up about it, wouldn't talk about it. I'm not going to ask you why you faked death, or what happened. The fact is I was so happy just to hear your voice again. I'm glad your alive Star and that your doing well. And I do wish you would've called sooner." He said looking down.
Slender arms slipped around him. " I've missed you Cyborg."
" Me too kiddo." he said hugging her back.
She pulled away and looked around, " It's been a long time since I've been here."
" It's been a long time since any of us as been here," said Cyborg remembering a distant time, " I missed this place. I miss 'us', the team. I miss old times."
" Me too," whispered Starfire. " I remember the last night I was here, I ..."
Cyborg raised an eyebrow and then lowered it. Whatever it was it had to do with Robin and he would just leave it alone.
" Lets get down to business, shall we?" Cyborg said playfully changing the subject. " Are you really going to do this?" He sat down on the old dusty couch.
She leaned up against the window panel, " I want to do this."
" Star, this is dangerous stuff. You get ankle deep in this, you'll never get out, it's a black tar Star and it has already taken peoples lives." Cyborg said putting a foot on the old coffee table and raising his eyes towards her.
" I know what I'm getting into, but what kind of person would I be if I just sat back and let the bad things happen? If I let the bad people make all decisions and have all the control?" Starfire reflected.
" And what kind of person would I be?" Cyborg answered to himself.
" Your wife, you children? Are you sure you want to do this?" Starfire asked.
" They are my life now, and I'd anything to protect them, this being one of the things. S.T.A.R. Labs took my life before, I won't let that happen again." Cyborg said.
" The room, the one not charted, what else do you know about it?" Starfire asked.
His eyes glazed over and she knew he wasn't looking at her. He wasn't looking at this place or this time. He wasn't looking at the sparkling blue sea outside. He was far, far away from here in a different time. And indeed he was , in his mind it had just started to snow. He spoke softly:
" It started to snow... it had started to snow...the middle of February. My little sister sat next to me. She would blow her hot breath on the window and then draw little pictures with her finger. I sat playing with my football, spinning it around with my finger. My father started yell, he didn't like me playing football or being on the team. Both he and my mother worked for S.T.A.R. Labs in researching. He was the best scientist and he hated sports. Thought I was wasting my time.
He wanted me, his only son, to follow in his footsteps; his steps were always too big for me.
He yelled at me to put the football down and get a real dream. My mother put a hand on hi shoulder and told him to stop the yelling. He did and it went quiet for a while.
It was so dark, and with the snow almost impossible to see. We were going up a mountain pass.
I said...I said... after a long while...I said ' Why can't I just be me? Why is nothing ever good enough no matter how hard I try? Why am I not good enough for you? Why!'
The driver of the semi truck couldn't see so well too. By accident he had driven into our lane.
As soon as I said that my father turned to look at me with fierce eyes, we sat looking into each others eyes for a long time, but it was only a few seconds.
My mother screamed and I saw the bright lights of the truck coming in front of us, now way of stopping. My father swerved and hit the side of the opposite railing. Our car, on impact, flipped over the railing and fell five feet. All I felt was hot, metal and glass tearing my skin open. All I heard was screaming, my little sister screamed for me. I, in those few seconds when we were falling, unbuckled myself and jumped to her side. I felt her little body grab on to me, telling not to let go. I never did.
The car it the bottom of the ditch and I felt flying out through the window closest to me, and so did my little sister. As I flew out I felt shards of glass ripping open one side of my face, my legs being ripped from body, my arm's tendons being cut, my eye had a piece of glass through it.
We landed and my little sister was still laying in my arms, but she wasn't alive anymore. The angels took her, stabbed through the heart with a chuck of glass. I was dead I knew it, we were all dead.
But I woke up one year later on a metal table. Something was wrong and I could tell the second I opened my eyes. My little sister was gone, and this wasn't heaven. My neck was held by a metal strap. My focus was off from waking up. My father stood over me and said ' Welcome back to the world.'
When I became fully awake I was raised, on the metal table, to a mirror. I just screamed, and screamed.
My father told me that I had survived, survived but my almost my whole body had been thrown from my torso. My father had woken up in the hospital in the bed next to mine and was the only one who was able to make a full recovery. My mother and sister had died, and I was dying. He begged Garrison Slate to fund him in making the first human with all artificial organs. Slate said yes.
My father moved me to a secret room, below the main building that no one knew was there. He replaced all my functioning organs, that were about to give out, with artificial ones. Gave me arms, legs, half of my face, my new heart.
After he told me all these things I was disgusted.
I yelled, 'Why! What the hell is wrong with you! Your fucking crazy! Get away from me! All of you get away from me! You are playing God! God! I was supposed to die! I want to die! What have you done to me!'
My father said, ' Victor you're better now, better than before, I gave you life! I gave you your life back damn it!'
I turned to him and whispered fiercely, ' You've taken everything, everything away from me. This I not life, I am not a man, I'm a robot, a monster. I hate you! Why couldn't you just die!'
He left the room and that's the last time I spoke to him. He was murdered the next day, by Garrison Slate, I knew. My father wanted me released into his care, Slate wanted to launch me as a new medical service. I guess my father, in the end, wanted me to be free.
Several weeks later I broke out and ran, ran far away, miles away, states away, until I got to Jump City. Until I got home."
Silence consumed the room and then Starfire said, " I'm sorry Cyborg I didn't know."
Cyborg half-smiled, " I didn't say it was going to be pleasant, did I ?"
Starfire half-smiled too, " Life is not pleasant."
Cyborg sighed, " Star what I'm about to tell you can be spoken to no one ever. Do you understand?"
" Of course."
" I have a contact," said Cyborg, " She works for S.T.A.R. Labs and has done so even when my parents were alive. She says that Charles is up to something. She doesn't know what but it's... top secret. And it's taking place in that little room that's not on the blue prints, she's sure of it.
I've been in that room, Star, and believe me they don't do normal things in that room. Whatever it is he's up to he has it down there for sure.
Have you heard of the woman that washed ashore this morning?"
Starfire nodded.
" Her name was Roberta Rangel and she worked for S.T.A.R. Labs. I had my contact check the records and she never checked out of her time slot. But of course she came back later and saw that the information had been erased. The guard didn't she her leave neither."
Starfire leaned against the glass panel, "What do you think she found?"
" The room," Answered Cyborg. " That's really all the information I have."
Starfire nodded, " I'll be looking into it."
" How?" Cyborg asked suspiciously.
Starfire walked from the glass panel over to where Cyborg sat, " How do you think?"
Cyborg stood and looked at her, " This is dangerous especially to be doing this by yourself."
Starfire smiled, " Oh come now it's not Kori, it's Starfire doing this."
Cyborg smiled, " So your getting back into the business?"
Starfire smiled, " Hell yes. It's time someone started to fight back."
Cyborg hugged her, " Be careful then, alright? I don't want to go losing you again."
" You'll never lose me Cy. But I have to go now, I have work." she said pulling away.
" I'll call you," said he looking on as she started walking towards the door.
" You better, " she said walking from him.
" Hey Starfire," Cyborg called out.
She turned, " Yeah?"
" He cried...he cried for you." Cyborg said softly.
Starfire looked sad, " I know. Goodbye Victor."
She then walked out the door.
" Goodbye Kori." he whispered.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
" Kor, kor. Kori" I voice said nudging her.
She looked up from the computer, " Hey Greg."
He leaned against her cubical, " You okay? You got back four hours ago went to your computer
and haven't stopped."
" I'm working," Kori mumbled clicking on her mouse, " Why is that weird?"
" Uh, it's weird because for as long as I've known you, you've never been able to sit still for more than an hour. Remember when we go to see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and after two hours you had your ipod on and were texting people?" Greg asked. " What's on your mind? You look disconnected to the world."
Kori sighed and looked up at him, " Have you kept something from someone? Something important?"
" Yeah, I think we all have." Greg answered nodding his head.
" What if keeping this secret, lets say, hurts someone? What if who you are isn't really you?" She asked touching her red hair.
" It depends, why are you keeping it?" he asked looking at her closely.
She looked back at her computer and thought," Never mind. It's nothing."
" Alright." he said going to his cubical and glancing back at her.
Kori glanced back at the computer screen and printed a few papers on the history of S.T.A.R. labs, unfortunately the original drafting of the building could not be found on the site.
" Hey Kori, hey Greg." Mary said coming towards them with a Del Taco cup in her hand.
She sat down at her desk, which was across from both Greg's and Kori's.
" So what's up?" she asked.
Greg shrugged, " Nothing much. I see you come from Del Taco. And once again did not bring me a flippin taco like I always ask you to."
Mary stopped going through the purse and was thoughtful. She slapped her forehead, " Damn I knew I was forgetting something. I knew I was when I was ordering so I just ordered an extra fry to eat figuring that maybe I told myself to order more."
Kori raised an eyebrow, " What kind of sense is that?"
Mary shrugged taking a fry from her purse and putting it into her mouth.
" You have fries?" Greg asked angrily.
" Well yeah," she answered, " of course I didn't eat the extra fry because I wasn't hungry. So I brought it back here to eat for a snack if I got hungry ."
" Give it to me!" Greg demanded.
" No Greg," she said holding the cup of fries close to her. " I paid for them."
Greg's eyes flashed, " Yeah while forgetting my damn taco. Now give me it!"
" No!" Mary shouted as Greg practically tackled her.
Emile, a small mousy girl with brown glasses, came towards them. " Um, excuse me, Mary?"
Mary pushed Greg off her, " Yeah?"
" Eric said he wanted you do this story and have it on his desk by tomorrow morning." she said handing Mary another newspaper and walking away.
Greg looked over Mary's shoulder as she took it, " Why didn't he give this story to Kori?" He read on and frowned, " Oh that's why."
Mary looked at Kori with a sad look and said, " Kori I am so sorry-."
Kori reached over and took it from her hands.
The headline read: Snake Cole's Charges Dropped
The newspaper hit Kori's desk and she gathered her things.
" Kori! Kori where are you going?" Greg called out.
" Kori!" Mary yelled as she got into the elevator. As golden doors closed they both saw something in her green eyes they had not seen before. The look.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
A hero, is never really gone. No, after they have died or gone away they live on through stories and through the good deeds people do in inspiration of them. But then again, sometimes they just live.
For almost ten years Jump City's heros had been gone. Crime had ravished the city. Although heros were so fondly remembered they were a thing of the past. It's people were afraid to walk the street at night. Parts of the city were to overrun with Mob bosses to even want to inhabit. And a tower shaped as a T stood sojourn on a island far away with cracked windows.
In one old part of town did a man enjoy his newly bought freedom.
Snake Cole walked into his apartment, not knowing that this town was no longer hero-less.
He laid back on his couch and closed his eyes.
Blinking the them back open he realized that his balcony glass door was open.
" Damn locksmith," he said getting up and closing it, " I'll kill him."
" I bet you will eventually, however don't do that just yet considering I was the one who opened the door." a sultry voice said from behind him.
He turned running his hands through his shoulder length dirty blonde hair, " How did you get in here?"
He talked to a woman's figure in a tight black suit. She wore a mask over her green eyes. She had red hair which was pulled back into a tight bun and slightly covered with a headpiece with a green jade in the middle.
The woman walked over to the counter next to her and sat on it, " Let's talk about you Snake."
" How do you know my name?" he asked.
" How could I not now your name? I mean you must be one of the luckiest son of bitches in the world. Sit down on the couch this may take a while." She said looking at her gloved fingers and nodding towards the couch.
" Alright baby, whatever you say." he said like a pig sitting down. " What is it you want to talk about?"
She looked at him and crossed her legs, " You are a bad, bad man."
" I can be as bad as you want me to be." he said with a chessy smile.
She uncrossed her legs and jumped down, " Snake Cole do you admit to selling drugs to teenagers and people of all ages? Do you also admit to killing those who didn't pay you your money?"
" Who the hell are you?" he seriously asked.
" That's a great question Mr. Cole. Who am I?" she said walking closer to him. She kneeled down to his level and whispered , " I'm justice incarnate."
He pushed her away from him and ran over to the counter, pushing a button under it. " I called the police."
She smiled, " Good that's what I want. Sadly when they get here you may be dead."
He grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen and held it at her, " Stay away from me."
She laughed, " Oh, so are you afraid now?" She lit her hand with green energy and blasted the knife from his fingers.
He tired to run past her but she grabbed him by the neck and held him to the wall.
" In my experience I've come to find those who are guilty don't take prison seriously, like you Snake. You paid you're way out of a trail and laughed at the system. A system that no longer exists. But I know what does phase a villain: physical justice. Because in prison you feel safe, you tell yourself that everything will be fine and in a week or less you're out. But with physical justice there is nothing you can do, nothing you can say to yourself to make you feel better. Right now my hand is around your throat so tight that you can't breathe and you can't move. You're realizing right now that I am ten times as strong as you and if I keep my hand here, like this around your throat, you'll be dead in under two minutes. So if I were I'd listen."
He nodded as much as his position would allow him.
"If you follow my demands you'll live. You're going to go to the police and give them everything they need on you. Then you'll actually go by the legal system and be put in prison for your sentence. If you do get released from prison you will never sell drugs again. In fact you'll move far, far away from this city. I don't care where, but not here. If you don't comply with what I'm asking mark my words: I will find you no matter where you are. I will kill you and the pain your feeling at this moment will be nothing to the pain you'll feel then. Because right now I have the power to snap your neck like a snap a twig between my fingers! From this point onward you'll never be safe anywhere you go. Do you agree?"
He nodded and whimpered, " Yes. Please God!"
She dropped him on the ground and he curled up into a little ball crying and coughing.
" When the police come tell them this: there's a new hero and town. And tell your friends I'll be after them next." She said walking towards the balcony door.
" What's your name?" he cried.
" What is in a name? That which we call poison, would be just as deadly." She said sitting on the rail outside. She then threw in a small metal container and everything went black.
The police sirens rang in the back round. Her heart beat faster. Alive—that is what she felt and boy she hadn't felt like this in 15 years.
Night. All is said. Many words are attached to Night. Words such as dark, dank, creepy, lonely, and sadness. But why do we hate Night so? Night is actually brighter than the day. Night opens truths and reveals things the sun will not. While it does shield the demons at least we know the demons are among us. But it also carries unsung heros, those who the sunlight hides from us.
A lone vigilante stood looking over his old city.
Night, oh Night did bring many things.
He heard sirens coming from down the street. He picked up a tool from his belt and listened to the police radio. A suspect was heading his way.
A movement on a adjacent buildings. He jumped to the roof just in time to see a flying figure.
" Stop!" he yelled.
The figure slowed and put its hands up.
" No turn around, your under arrest!" he yelled.
" Don't tell me your Nightwing? Well I should've figured." Said the figure turning around.
Something was familiar about her, those striking green eyes.
" Who are you!" he demanded.
The woman smiled to herself, " You already know."
" You are-." Nightwing asked when a green bolt of energy knocked him off his feet. He was thrown back and rolled to a stop.
When he looked up she was standing over him.
" Starfire." he finished. " Star?"
" Oh Robin, always wanting what you can't have. Starfire is dead, she's been a long time." said the woman turning away.
" Starfire," he said getting up, " Wait!"
Too late. As he ran towards her she jumped off the 20 story high roof and when he looked over the edge she was gone.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Rain poured upon the ground, each droplet different from the next, all wet.
Kori had let her red hair down and know it soaked and sewn across her face. Her tears were lost in the rain.
A few hours ago she had felt alive, alive like she used to be. It was like being recalled to life after being dead for so long. But Starfire was dead; she was buried in this graveyard where she stood now, as it said on the headstone before her.
Rain pitter-pattered upon the headstone that read: Starfire. A Teen Titan, A True Friend.
It had rained like this, that night 15 years ago. Oh, she remembered it so clearly it was like it just happened.
" Kori I don't know what to do!" she cried out to the grave. " I don't know what to do!"
:flashback 15 years earlier...
Rain poured down heavily upon her auburn hair. 18-year old Starfire ran as fast as she could to get out of it.
" Oh no!" she cried. She found a bus bench sheltered by a covering and sat down.
She shivered. All that she was wearing were a pair of old, worn jeans and an over-sized t-shirt. Tears were lost in the rain as she sobbed quietly to herself. Starfire held her arms and legs close to her, trying to keep warm.
" Hey!" a voice called out next to her.
Starfire turned and saw a woman about her age standing next to her with an umbrella over her head. She looked so similar. She bore the same auburn hair and jade green eyes.
" Are you okay?" the woman asked.
Starfire looked at her and nodded.
The woman looked around, " Are you waiting for someone?"
Starfire shook her head.
The woman ran a hand through her hair, " Listen I know that you may think I'm a crazy person for asking this, but would you like to come with me? I'm on my to dinner and I have some dry clothes in my bag here."
Starfire shook her head, " Thank-you for your gracious offer but I cannot. I am waiting for the number nine bus to take me to Gotham and then I will board the number 11 that will take me to Longhorn. When I get to Longhorn I will 'rent' a room for the night and the next day will board another bus to take me to Hollywood." She said it as if almost in a trance.
The woman looked at what packages the girl carried. She only saw a small purple bag.
The woman sighed, " Look if I leave you out here I'll be worried all night wondering if something happened to you. Now you seem like a nice person, would you want me to worry?"
Starfire turned and shook her head apologetically, " Oh, no I would not want you to worry. I wish to give you relief but I cannot miss my bus."
The woman thought and then said, " How about after dinner I give you a ride to Gotham? I'll call taxi to take us there, believe me it's safer than a bus. I'm supposed to be going there anyway, you know to visit friends."
Starfire smiled, " I suppose it would be to my benefit to go with you then." She stood up and securely placed the strap of the purple purse on her shoulder.
They started to walk.
" Cool. The diner is just up here. Have you ever been there? It's called Ricks's and it's the best place to eat in Jump City, says so on the menu. When we get in there you can go to the bathroom and change – oh make sure to get under the umbrella, although I don't know how much wetter you can get – well anyways I think this place is cool it's like a trailer only bigger. You know the older trailers that were sliver or whatever material they were made of, right? Well this is like eating in one of them." the woman said talking a lot.
Starfire smiled and nodded.
" All right we're here." said the woman opening the door. They walked in to a 50's café styled diner. They took a seat at a red booth with a sliver table separating each bench. The woman took some clothes out of the bag and handed them to Starfire.
Starfire smiled and went to the bathroom to put them on.
She slid the dry jeans and shirt on in the one stall bathroom. Country music played in the back round as she did so. She then turned to the mirror and looked at herself. Her hair was soaked and she quickly ran her hands through the tangled mess to straighten it out. She wiped her eyes, to dry them of lingering tears and used a hand dryer to dry out her hair.
Afterwards she still stared into the mirror for several minutes. She pressed her hands on the counter and leaned in to closely stare at herself. She looked fine on the outside but on the inside she was broken. She let out a sob and sunk against the wall to the ground. After a few minutes of staring up at ceiling she stood and walked out the door.
When Starfire came back out a coffee cup sat in her spot on the table and the woman was already drinking hers.
" You look better," the woman said noticing her. " Here I got you some coffee. I didn't know what you preferred."
Starfire smiled and sat down, " I like coffee very much."
The woman finished her sip and said, " Me too! I love it! Can't go a day without it." Starfire smiled. " You know we look a lot alike."
Starfire nodded, " Oh yes we do. I noticed that."
The woman then smacked her forehead, " Oh my gosh! I don't even know your name!"
" It is Starfire, " Starfire answered.
The woman smiled and nodded, " Have I met you before? You look familiar, I mean, (well duh I get practically the same reflection when I look in the mirror) but from somewhere else, that is."
Starfire thought, Titans Tower flashed in her mind, she pushed the thought away. " I do not believe we have."
" Oh well," said the woman finishing up her coffee. The waitress came after that and took their orders.
" So where are you from?" the woman asked. " You can't be from around here you talk too innocently."
Starfire smiled and said, " I am from the north."
Woman laughed, " Let me guess farm girl that grew-up in the North. You came down here for school, met a guy and he broke your heart."
Starfire laughed, " You almost had it correct."
" Well," said the woman, " I am psychic."
" You are?" asked Starfire excitedly.
The woman nodded, " Hell yeah. Nah, I wish I was. Because if I was my life wouldn't suck as bad."
Starfire frowned, " What has happened?"
The woman shook her head, " You don't want to hear my sob story."
Starfire nodded, " Please?"
The woman sighed, " I...,well, I attend or attended Jump City University. I'm taking a 'break'.I'm a journalism major."
"Why?"
" Back in high school I did drugs. It was for about a year and half then I got sent to a rehabilitation center. Then and ever since I've been clean. But a couple of months back a ran into my ex boyfriend who still did drugs and of course I took pity on him and invited him to live with me. He stole everything I had. Yes, he stole everything. I had to sell the apartment. It just sent me back to a shock. And now I'm trying to figure out who I am. I'm not a good person."
" Yes you are." encouraged Starfire.
" No, Starfire, I'm not." said the woman seriously. " I've done some bad things lately."
" Such as?" Starfire asked.
The woman looked down, " Just compensation for what I've lost. Tell me: why do you want to go to Hollywood?"
The woman then looked up smiling.
Starfire answered, " I've always heard that the 'stars' live there. And my name is Starfire so I am going to go and see the 'stars' in black and white."
The woman thought for a second, " Well it's plan I'll give that to you."
Starfire nodded, " Yes, a plan."
" Why were you crying?" asked the woman.
" Crying?"
" Yes outside on the bench?"
" Like you me a man has hurt me." starfire replied taking a sip of her coffee.
" Want to tell me what happened?" the woman asked. Starfire nodded and she told her story while they ate.
" That's messed up, I'm sorry." said the woman.
" Do not be I am so glad as to have made a new friend." Starfire smiled. " Do you wish to come with me?"
" Where?"
" To Hollywood!" Starfire said joyfully, " You said you do not have a plan. You have rescued me tonight, now let me do the same for you."
" Sure!" the woman said, " Us girls should stick together."
They agreed and finished eating.
" Taxi! Taxi!" the woman shouted. They jumped in before they got too wet.
" Where to?" the taxi driver asked.
" Gotham." replied Starfire.
Then the car pulled away from the diner. It rain still but lightly. And in the distance traffic lights were blurry as the windshield wipers moved back and forwards.
Starfire smacked herself on the head, " What is your name? We have gone all this time without me knowing it."
The woman laughed, " Now that was stupid of us! My name is Kori Anders."
" I like your name." Starfire smiled.
" So when we get to Hollywood where do yo want to go first?" Kori asked.
" I wish to go to-." Starfire started to say but a horn cut her off.
" Shit!" yelled the driver.
Starfire heard Kori scream as another car came straight at them. Starfire held tightly on to whatever she could get a hold of.
The taxi driver had not seen the other car coming towards them. The driver of the other car did not know he was in the wrong lane. And when they collied the front of the taxi was totally destroyed. As the driver lost control it spun of control and flipped three times before coming to a stop on it's's back. The driver was killed instantly.
However in the back seat the passengers still lived.
A few moments later Starfire opened her eyes, " Kori?"
" Hey Starfire you alive?" Kori answered next to her. Both women were still buckled in and hanging upside down.
" Yes. Are you...alright?"
Kori chuckled, " Of course I am. I'm a fighter." her voice grew teary. " A car couldn't kill me."
" Kori what is wrong?" asked Starfire painfully turning to look at her. " Oh no!"
A piece of twisted meal went through her chest. And Kori bled freely.
" Kori!" Starfire sobbed.
" Don't worry everything is going to be okay." Kori said weakly. " Here I want you to take this." She said giving her bag to Starfire and taking the purple one.
" What are you doing?" Starfire asked her fallen friend.
" In that bag there's an ID and some money. When you get to the hospital tell them that it's yours." Kori explained.
" But it is yours." Starfire said.
" No it's yours." Kori said tearfully. " I'm going to die."
" No Kori do not say that!" cried Starfire
" Do me a favor, will you?" Kori asked looking at Starfire, blooded caked on her face.
" Anything," promised Starfire.
" Make more use of my name than I did." Kori said coughing up blood.
" Kori!" Starfire yelled.
Kori smiled, " Everything will be alright Kori it will. Everything will be alright."
And then she was gone.
Starfire was left alone with sirens coming towards the wreck and rain sprinkling outside. And she closed her eyes, hoping to met the same fate as her friend.
But she didn't.
And two days later she woke up in Jump City Memorial Hospital. Machines beeped around her and she looked at her surroundings. Remembering what happened she called out Kori's name but received no answer.
" Hello Miss Anders I see your awake." said a doctor happily walking into the room.
" Miss Anders?" Starfire asked herself.
" You'll doing well, and sustained only minor injuries. You should be out of here in three days." he said checking her charts.
" Excuse me but can you tell me where my friend is? Her name is...Starfire." she asked.
He frowned and said gently, " Miss Starfire died on the accident site."
" But-. I" she started.
He padded her foot, " I am sorry for your loss. Her other friends were here."
" Other friends?"
" Yes, you were aware that she was apart of Jump Cities Teen Titans weren't you?" he asked. She nodded. " Well they were here. The funeral will be on Saturday."
She nodded tearfully.
" I see you have no family. Do you have anyone you'd like me to call?" he asked.
" No thank-you. I haven't got friends." she answered sadly.
His pager went off. " I have to go but I'll be back in a little later. Ring the bell if you need anything."
She nodded as he left. She lay her head back on the pillow contemplating what had happened and what was going to happen.
She then remembered Kori's last words: Make more use of my name than I did .
And she would. She would do everything Kori could now not do. She'd fix her mistakes. She'd live.
Looking at her reflection in the window across from her she said, " Hello my name is Kori Anders and I am a student at Jump City University."
And Starfire...was now deceased.
Starfire's funeral was held on that Saturday. It was a private ceremony.
As her friends put her to rest at Jump City Cemetery and unknown figure lurk behind the trees. Kori Anders held herself up with a crutch and watched her friends bury someone that was not her.
Raven put a gray rose upon her casket, and Beastboy put on a flower also. Cyborg stood tall and proud trying not to cry. And Robin he stood in a nice suit with glasses shielding his eyes.
One by one they all left as they had left the team.
Until at sunset only Robin remained. The new Kori stayed looking at him. With his back turned to her he removed the glasses. She saw him fall and sob over the casket.
She took in a deep breathe and turned away.
Goodbye Robin.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
HEY! I am so sorry that took so long! Wow it's been a while! Well I've been working on this chapter for a couple fo weeks but since I am now on break I could finish it.
Yep as you read Kori had in fact been a real person who died and Starfire took her name. But I still haven't revealed what happened between Starfire and Robin all those years ago.
For all readers of Faint secret: I am working on it! It's just going very very very very slowly. Lol. But I'll get the next chapter to you soon, I hope.
Well once again please no flames! and review make me happy. And to all of those people who reviewed on the last chapter I give you a sugar cookie!
I know the show is now over but I will still continue to write. In fact I am planning to write a sequel to this story after it is done. I think it may be better too. So please keep reading:)
Till next time
hay-hay