Thanks so much to ThEnAmEsGiGi, tennisgal456, My Dreams are My Wings, SuPeR HyPeR chick 101, StarryNightT, cartoonfire, BerryDrops, Alien Emeral, shattered-hearts-602, Starsoffire, katara12171, Black Raven 13, RavenSis, Sta-R-obin, ChristianAndGatorGal, writing4eva, ArcaneAuthor, and so not telling for reviewing!
I really want to thank you all for reviewing. If you hadn't, I probably would've stopped writing (I guess my L.A. teacher'd be happy about that, and a lot of people on FF too) but I need to get better, so if you have any con-crit, don't hesitate! But I know where the story's going and I just needed help on what's written so far, not what they should do next. So please, ideas are not needed. And remember, if you don't get something, there is a reason why it's there, and the entire plot is not going to change for one person. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.
"K...Star?" Nightwing began lamely. Already he was making mistakes. Just perfect.
"Hello, Nightwing," Starfire answered dully, not looking at him, off in her own world.
Nightwing thrust out his hand awkwardly. "Happy two-week anniversary," he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck. Starfire eyed the bouquet of flowers in his hand with confusion. Then it dawned on her and she smiled a little.
"Thank you." She kissed him softly on the lips, and he knew he was forgiven.
"That's not fair," he pouted after she pulled away.
Starfire hesitated. "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything..."
Nightwing chuckled. "Not that. I think I deserve a longer kiss." She giggled and took the bouquet out of his hands, turning her face away. "Star!"
"Yes?"
"Look, it's Godzilla!"
"Wher--" Nightwing captured her lips in his own.
"Cheater," she muttered in a break.
"I do what I can."
"Ooh! And the park! And the mall of shopping! And perhaps even the park-which-is-said-to-be-amusing-but-is-really-quite-terrifying-for-most-people!" Kory offered eagerly as an answer to how they could spend their Saturday afternoon.
Vic shrugged. "How about the arcade, y'all?"
"Yes-suh!" Gar yelled, pumping his fist in the air.
"Whatever," muttered Rachel.
Karen just sighed.
Dick glanced over at Kory's crestfallen form and declined. "Come on, guys, you wanted to ride that Blazing Tiger thing for a while now, haven't you?"
"Well..." considered Vic. "It IS the fastest, scariest, steepest, twisty-est, turny-est, highest..." He stopped listing features when Karen's eyes began to smoke. "Uh...coolest roller coaster around...I guess we could go. Why are you all staring at me like that? It was on the commercial!"
"And you memorized it?" Rachel questioned.
"Uh...no...?"
"Come on, Kory, let's get in the front of the car before these people crowd in," Dick interrupted.
"No way! No one's driving my baby except me!"
"Come on, Vic! Just once! Please? Pretty please?"
"NO, Gar!"
Eventually they piled in to Vic's SUV, his pride and joy. Kory and Dick had managed to land in the back, but at least they weren't next to Gar, who was desperately trying to get a truck driver to honk his horn and nearly ended up hitting Rachel with his elbow on many occasions. Karen and Vic were singing to the radio up in front. It was not a quiet ride.
After Gar had been threatened with his life a grand total of twenty-seven times, they arrived. Vic and Gar pulled their reluctant girlfriends to the deadly-looking roller coaster that Dick was sure they'd be crying all over by the time the ride was over. "You want to ride that, Kory?" Dick asked her.
"Very well," Kory answered nervously.
"Or...um, I'm too scared," he lied, noticing her fear. "How about something else? There's a map here."
"What is this?" Kory asked, pointing at the Tunnel of Love.
"Uh, that's scary too, let's not go there."
"How can it be scary? There are so many hearts!"
Dick closed his eyes and tried to banish the image of his last trip down the Tunnel of Love with one of his previous girlfriends. "Believe me, it's terrifying."
"OMG! It's Dick Grayson!" yelled a familiar voice. Dick whirled around. Where was Rachel when you needed her?
Three girls were rushing at him, their insanely long earrings and extensions flying out behind them. "Look, Mandy! OMG Dick, are you still single? You don't have a girlfriend, right? Seventeen's issue this month said you didn't but...OMG Dick, do you love me?"
"No he does NOT. You do not, yes?" Kory asked him.
Dick took a giant step backwards, hugging Kory close to him. It wasn't necessary, though, because the minute they noticed Kory after her outburst, the girls stopped in their tracks. "Who's she?" and "Where did she come from?" and "That is the fakest tan I have ever seen! OMG you'd think she actually got it from the sun!" was heard all around.
"Dick? Why do they seem as though they do not like me?" Kory whispered to him.
"Uh...hold on, Kor." He had to get her out of this. Maybe she could save herself.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Too late.
"She has a name. And it's Kory," he answered coldly. "Now if you don't mind, I'm taking her to that"--hated--"Tunnel of Love thing. I'd appreciate it if you left us alone."
One of the girls flipped their dyed blonde hair. "Whatever. OMG do you think Zac Efron comes here, too?" Dick sighed as the giggling troupe bounced away. He might have to warn his buddy Zac about them...maybe he could get a restraining order, too.
"Did you truly wish to go on this ride, Dick? You are not scared?" Kory probed.
"Yeah. It's fine," he said shortly, pulling her along.
"Dick? Are you angry with me?" he heard her ask quietly. He stopped, sighing.
"I'm sorry, Kory. Girls like that get on my nerves...a lot. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Sh smiled at him, and he grinned back. "Come on, we're almost there." The area was littered with kissing couples, hugging couples, couples holding hands, and a lot of hearts, as Kory had put it earlier. Dick suddenly realized Kory wasn't following him anymore. "Kory?"
She had stopped a few feet away, her eyes averted. "Perhaps there is another ride that is more amusing."
"You don't want to go on this one anymore?"
Kory said nothing. How was she supposed to tell him that she hadn't known it was that kind of love? That she hadn't known friends could ride? She loved her friends too, didn't she?
"I promise it's not that bad, Kory. It just...kinda depends on who you're with." He gave her a lopsided smile. And I'm with my girlfriend...one that I actually LIKE.
"Oh..."
And then Dick made a huge mistake. He drew her in and kissed her. Only when he started to taste something salty did he know that something was wrong. He pulled away, only to see that Kory was crying. "Kory? What...?"
She broke away. "I am sorry...but I cannot."
Then, she ran.
Vic, Gar, Rachel, and Karen had all been on seven rides so far, and were about ready to throw up. The boys didn't show it, of course, but the abnormal green tinge gave it away. "Who wants to ride the Doomcoaster again?" Gar groaned.
"Please, no," Karen begged. "Rachel and I are gonna go sit down somewhere..." Her cell phone began to ring. "Hey...what happened? Stay right there, we're all coming, Kory...it's okay, don't cry, honey. Give me your address...Yeah, talk to you soon, 'kay?" She flipped the phone closed, all sickness disappearing.
"What happened?" asked Rachel.
"There was someone in Kory's house."
Starfire flew into her tiny home from the amusement park, sobbing uncontrollably. What was she supposed to tell Nightwing? This was terrible...more than terrible, she needed to be punished for it. She wiped away her tears and sat on her bed, dreading her meeting with Nightwing later. She couldn't lie and say it was an accident. Kory and Dick were bound to come together sooner or later. She had seen it, and she'd done nothing to stop it. Dick meant as much to her as Nightwing did, but how could she care for both Dick and Nightwing at once?
Something rustled in the room. Her head shot up, star bolts ready to use if necessary. It was a man. He was dressed in all black, the only thing showing were his cold, gray eyes. She grabbed the nearest heavy object she could find, a lamp, and thrust it at him.
The man grunted, flying back and crashing into a wall. Her strength had definitely surprised him. "Stupid mutant!" he roared, his voice deep but muffled through the cloth over his face. "Don't fight!"
Mutant? How did he know...?
"No!" She raised her arm to punch him, but he kicked her stomach and she lost her balance.
"Mr. Roth knows where you are! He's coming for you! And if you don't come with me now, you won't survive the next time!" he yelled, grabbing her arm. Starfire twisted his hand off of her and threw him as hard as she could into a shelf. He lay there, panting, while she picked him up by the collar.
"Who are you? How did you find me?" she screeched at him.
The man said nothing, punching her in the gut and pushing off the ground to get away from her. Starfire coughed for air and then hurtled at him, catching him in the shoulder and sending him careening backwards. He recovered quickly, lunging at her, but she moved out of the way just in time. He crashed into the window sill, laying there for a second, eyes closed, as she approached cautiously. Suddenly, the man staggered up, gasping with pain. "Come quietly. No one has to get hurt. Mr. Roth wants his experiment back, Starfire," he sneered.
"Never. I refuse to go back to him! He will kill me!"
"Yes, he will, if you refuse to join me. Your only chance of survival is to come with me right now. He will hide you, nothing else. Keep you undercover until this storm blows over..."
"Liar!" Starfire screamed. "He killed a little girl! He will kill me too, what difference does it make to him?" She lit a star bolt, seeing as it was useless to hide them now.
The man just laughed. "Remember what I said. This was your last chance."
Before she could react to that statement, he swung himself up, crawling out of the window and into the evening. Starfire threw a star bolt after him, but missed, leaving a black burn mark on the wall.
After a moment of shock at the sudden departure, Starfire sank down on to the bed, her fear consuming her completely. Roth Industries knew where she was. They were going to come and kill her so the government would never find her...
Shakily, she picked up the phone, and began dialing Dick's number.
Wait...I cannot...she reminded herself, blinking fresh tears away.
She stopped, cleared it, and dialed Karen instead.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Dick! There you are!" called Karen. Dick didn't even notice her serious expression. He was too busy cursing at himself. He knew Kory and Starfire were the same, but she didn't know that Dick and Nightwing were. Idiot! How could he have been so stupid? "Dick, why in the world would you let Kory go home by herself?"
He ran his hands through his hair. "It's a long story, Karen..."
"Long story, my foot! There was someone in her house! She could've been killed!"
"What?" Dick was instantly done moping. "Is she okay? What happened? Who was it? Why are we all standing here? Let's go! Get in the car! Run!"
The five lost no time in zooming on to the highway, where Dick called Kory. "Hello?" she answered, her voice shaking with terror.
"Star, it's me, are you alright?"
"Star? Who the heck is Star, man?" Vic called from the front seat.
"Who is this?" she asked, as confused as everyone else. It was Dick's phone number...but Dick wouldn't call her 'Star'.
"It's me, Star. Nightwing."
"What?" asked Gar, voicing the thoughts of the thoroughly befuddled group. Dick shot him a glare, silencing the whole carful of people.
"But...it is Dick's phone...X'hal, you are doing the pulling of my leg. Dick, you ARE Nightwing?"
"Yeah, Star. Don't worry, all of us are gonna be there soon, okay? Just hold on."
"Dick...Nightwing..." Well, at least it would give her something to think about until they got to her house.
"You turn here," Karen instructed Vic, breaking the silence. They pulled up on a lonely, poorly kept street and into the driveway of a lonely, poorly kept house. "Oh God...this is where she lives?" Karen breathed, staring up at the dilapidated home.
Dick pushed open the car door before Vic had even parked it, and ran up the steps to the front of the house, banging on the door. "Kory? Kory, open up! It's us!"
"Dick?"
Dick had never seen Kory look so scared. He wrapped his arms around her, whispering in her ear, "It's okay, now, Kory. We're here. Nothing's going to happen to you." She was crying, crying hard. "No one's going to hurt you now, Kory, we won't let them."
"Kory? Kory, girl, are you okay?" The other four rushed up to them, anxiously patting Kory's back or stroking Kory's hair, trying to get their fair share of comfort in.
"Dick," she sniffed. "It was Roth Ind--" Kory cut herself off with a wave of sobs.
Dick swore, half-carrying her into the house. Everyone followed, alert and tense. "Dick...what does Rachel's dad have to do with any of this?" Gar asked solemnly. Dick glanced over at Rachel. She knew that he was in contact with her dad's experiment, but she didn't know who it was. The smart girl would have it pieced together soon, now, probably in the next five seconds or less.
"Kory, I think it's time to tell them. They have a right to know. We can all help you." Kory just nodded at him, refusing to let him go. He addressed the general population of the room, gesturing for them to sit down. "You all know that Roth Industries lost a factory around last fall. The thing is, there was an illegal experiment in that factory, and something went wrong. That experiment is...standing right next to me."
Gar and Vic were completely taken aback, but Rachel's expression had never changed. She had even figured out the rest of the story. "And now my father wants you back, Kory, am I right? He found out where you live and everything...I've seen him making calls to strange people. But how? You never gave us any hint that you were anything other than perfectly normal..."
Dick hesitated. This was the part he hadn't wanted to voice, unsure of whether their friends would accept her once they knew that she stole for a living. Karen began speaking, though, and it ruined any excuse he'd been planning. "That 'bird-lady' thing on the news not too long ago...that was you?" Kory nodded shamefacedly, separating from Dick and staring at the floor. "Oh wow, Kory...you use your...powers, I guess you'd call them, to save people? That's amazing! And you knew you might get caught by Mr. Roth, but you did it anyway to save those people in the building..." Karen was in awe.
"No! Not at all!" Kory interjected.
"Kory, just leave it--"
"I would not have gone in that building at all, if left to myself. You have heard of the thief, the 'arsonist' Starfire?" She lit a star bolt and laughed bitterly as the four took a step back out of shock. "That would be me as well."
The four friends were quiet. Who knew there was a bad side to their innocent Kory? "That's why you call her 'Star,' isn't it?" Vic asked finally.
"Yeah," Dick answered, rubbing her back soothingly. Kory refused to look at anyone, pretending that the bare floor was extremely fascinating.
"Why would you do this, Kory?" Gar asked, his tone carrying a slight hint of accusation. "Stealing from innocent people?"
"I had no choice," Kory mumbled, her eyes filling with tears. Why didn't she say anything about her choice to head on the straight and narrow from now on? What happened to whatever she promised Nightwing? Why didn't she tell them?
"Kory, it's wrong--" Karen began.
"I am aware of that!" Kory turned, wiping her tears away with the heel of her hand and preparing to leave the room when she stepped on something gloopy. It was her egg, which had smashed during the fight with the intruder. That just about did it. She ran into another room, slamming the door.
"Kory!" Dick yelled after her. He glared at the others. "Don't you think she's trying? Don't you think I'm trying to help her? It's not her fault your dad"--he pointed angrily at Rachel, one of the only people who hadn't actually accused Kory in the past five minutes--"took her entire life away from her!" He followed her into the room, twisting open the unlocked door and closing it behind him. Kory was lying on a tiny bed, weeping into the pillow. "Kory? Hey. Don't cry. They don't mean it. They didn't know, Kor..."
He sat next to her, cradling her body in his arms. "For not knowing, they are remarkably in the right," she muttered, wriggling out of his grasp. "Perhaps I should have gone with this man, whomever he was. Then I would not be committing anymore--"
"Don't say that!" Dick grabbed her arms, moving his hands up to her cheeks when she wouldn't look at him. "Kory, promise me you won't do anything stupid like that." She flinched, and he knew he'd said the wrong thing, but at that moment, he didn't care. "Promise me, Kory. Please. They don't know anything, they had no right to say things like that--"
But Kory was too busy considering her options to listen. It was truly the best, for the hundreds of citizens she'd stolen from; for her friends, who'd trusted her only to find out what she'd been doing behind their backs; and for Dick. He wouldn't have to worry about her anymore. And it wasn't like she belonged on this Earth anyway. She was a freak, some kind of twisted mad scientist creation. And Mr. Roth had promised to hide her, hadn't he? Maybe the offer still held.
"I am sorry..." she whispered.
"Kory, hold on a second--"
"Dick, there is no other way, do you not see?"
"We can hide you somewhere, Kory! In one of our houses or something. Rachel's out, obviously, but how about Karen's?"
Kory shook her head sadly. "Dick, they do not want me here. And I am sure, deep down, you do not either. Hiding me in someone's home will only cause that person danger. If Mr. Roth could find me here, he could find me in another place, also."
"What do you mean, Kory? Of course we want you here! Kory, I need you here. You can't just leave!" Dick was practically begging, but Kory's mind was made up. All because their 'friends' had to run their big mouths...Dick was going to kill them for making Kory cry like this, especially when she was so scared she couldn't think straight...because that was what the problem was, right? Kory would never, ever come to this decision if she was rational and calm, right?
"Please, Dick. Let go of me. I have no wish at all to hurt you."
"Kory, just think--"
"You will be better off. Please, Dick, could you not merely turn the other way? There is no need to argue. It would have come to this sooner or later."
"Then let it be later! I don't care! I'm not letting you go anywhere, Kory, I mean it! You're staying right--" Kory kissed him, warm and passionate, though her lips still tasted of her salty tears. He felt a sharp pain to the back of his head, but as his world faded slowly to black, he didn't care as long as Kory's lips never left his.
Starfire stared down at her unconscious boyfriend, sure her sobs were loud enough to alert the other people in the house that something was not right with Dick and Kory's 'talk.' It was the last crime she'd ever commit, hopefully. "I am so sorry," she whispered to him, wiping off her tears as they fell on to his cheek. "Goodbye..."
She walked to the door, locking it in an attempt to buy more time when the others figured out that things were too quiet. Then, Starfire opened the window as quietly as she could, staring back at Dick one last time. How had she never made the connection that he and Nightwing were the same? There had been so much going on, maybe she'd been too distracted. She longed to crawl back by his side, shake him awake, run her hands through those thick, gorgeous locks and feel his strong arms around her, but she climbed out before she succumbed to the urge. This had to end. Tonight.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"The message has been sent, Mr. Roth. Our agent, however, returned empty-handed," Jaques told Tristan.
"Fine. But you had better have more news on this thing to report to me by tomorrow, or you're fired." 'Fired' could possibly be exchanged with the word 'murdered' in Tristan's vocabulary. Jaques just smiled.
"I will, or rather, I do. Look who's outside your building, Mr. Roth."
Good night...