This is chapter two, where it starts getting depressing lol. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

She had wanted to scream and yell at him, make him understand what he had done to mess up both her life and he mother's. Instead, she had invited him to lunch at her house the next day.

As he was leaving, the bartender shouted something like, "Grayson, you didn't even touch a drink yet!" but she hadn't been listening. She flipped open her cell and dialed Rachel's number.

"Hey Gar, is Dylan there? Yeah, I'll hold...Dylan! You told me you'd be here by now...Can you come? Please? It's an emergency...Thanks, Dylan. I really appreciate it." Five minutes later, a handsome young man with olive-ish skin walked into the bar. He saw Mari waving at him and sat down at her table.

"Hey, Mar, what's up?" he asked smoothly. He put both of his feet on the table, earning a dirty look from the bartender. Mari rolled her eyes. And this is my best friend.

"Problem. What do you do if some guy you've never seen comes back claiming to be your father?" she asked. The table toppled as Dylan jumped. The bartender looked like she was just about to wring his neck.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? Geez, you know my mom is gonna kill him, so don't bring him within a ten foot radius of her. What's he like? Is he a complete retard? You'd have to be to leave someone like your mom. She's forty and she's still hot."

Mari slapped his arm playfully. "Shut up. And no, he's not a retard. He's...really nice, now that you mention it. He just gets really drunk like every night because he misses my mom so much and he doesn't know what to do about it. Can you believe he didn't even know he had a daughter?"

Dylan gazed at her thoughtfully. "I don't know, Mari. Trusting a drunk guy isn't really the smartest thing to do."

"He was sober! I'm more drunk than him right now, really. He looked really miserable, though. But he does look like me. We have the same eye color. He showed me. I've never seen anyone else with a blue like this."

Dylan smirked. "Stop bragging and get on with your story."

"There's not much to tell, really. Well, there's a whole lot, but I don't know how to say it. I want him to meet my mom. I'm pretty sure he wants to meet her, too. I'm just scared, you know? I can't help believing him, but what if he's some...I don't know..."

"Neither do I. You need a ride home?"

"Nah, I'm okay. But don't tell Rachel or Gar, please?"

"Alright. My mom will freak if she finds out any other way, though, and you know that. You owe me, Mari, I'm putting my life at stake here." She laughed. All of a sudden, she felt lightheaded...no, her whole body felt light, and she thought she would blow away if a wind happened to come in here. She sat down in a chair and Dylan looked worriedly at her.

"Don't wory, it's just one of my spells. I just wanted to say thanks. I didn't know who to call, and--"

"No problem. Tell me if it works out between your parents, okay?"

The doorbell rang. Mari was alone at home, she had made sure of that. She opened the door to find a very prim looking Richard outside. He was clean shaven and dressed casually, his sunglasses still in place, but it was a huge difference from last night. She thought maybe, just maybe, her mother had loved him and she hadn't realized how far they would go either. Maybe Rachel was wrong, maybe he was right for her mother.

Richard smiled at her. "Can I come in?" he asked. Mari stepped aside and he entered and turned to her. "I have to thank you, about last night."

"Why?"

He smirked. "This is the first morning I woke up and my head wasn't about to split in two."

She shrugged, still slightly uncomfortable. Richard stopped smiling. "There's a lot I have to tell you, Mari." She led him over to the kithen table and sat down. Richard folded his hands. "Where do I start?"

"How did you meet my mother?"

Richard massaged his temples. "This is going to be kind of hard to belive, unless she already told you. If you look in any history book, you'll find a picture of your mother, as long as it's less than twenty years old. About twenty eight or twenty nine years ago, she was part of the Teen Titans. So was I, and apparently, so were your neighbors Rachel and Gar, and Vic, too. I was Robin, Rachel was Raven, Gar was Beast Boy, Vic was Cyborg, and your mother was Starfire.

"I met her when I came to Jump City from Gotham, seperating myself from Batman. That day, your mother, who was enslaved by a certain species of alien, broke out and came to Earth. We met and we fought. I thought she was trying to destroy this city, and she was just fighting because I was fighting her. All five of us allied, eventually, and saved her. We became Jump's new crimefighting team. Then your mother and I fell in love, and it ruined everything.

"There was a man named Slade. He was a supervillain, and he seemed to come back from the dead all the time. He nearly killed me so many times, I got paranoid. I didn't want your mother to get hurt, so I left. I wanted to make sure he never touched her, so I had to go. It was only a couple of years ago that news of his real death reached me, but by that time I thought I had no chance of tracking her down. How ironic that you were here in Gotham this whole time." He laughed bitterly.

Mari leaned back in her chair, unable to process all this new information. She was part alien? Her mother had been on a crimefighting team? She was part alien? Unbelieveable.

But she wanted to accept this. This would mean her mother had really loved her father, and she hadn't been a mistake, or worse, the creation of some thug on the street in a dark alley that Kori had accidentally wandered into.

Richard wasn't done. "Mari, I didn't know. I swear, if I had known I had a daughter, I would have stayed. I would have been there to protect you. And I'm sorry. My mistake probably cost you your whole life." Mari nodded, unable to respond. "And I'd do anything to see her again, Mari. I loved your mother so much..."

Mari finally found her voice. "Why do you think I brought you here? She should be home any minute. I want to sort this out, once and for all. You have no idea how much of a black hole my life has been. I never knew anything, Mom never bothered to tell me anything."

Richard couldn't meet her eye. He obviously thought she was blaming him. "But I'm glad," she added, "Glad I know. You're an awesome guy, really, I was just afraid my mom got--you know--"

"No," he said softly. He seemed put out. She had let a strong, radiant man through the doorway, but now he looked more like the guy she had seen in the bar last night. Suddenly, the door slammed.

"Mari! I'm home," said a very gentle voice. Richard jumped up and out of his chair, instantly alert. Mari could practically hear his heart going faster than a mouse's. Kori walked into the kitchen with a bunch of grocery bags and didn't notice him at first.

"Mari, a man from your work called while you were gone, and he--" She stopped dead as she saw Richard and dropped her groceries.

"Mom," said Mari calmly. "This is Richard. I'm pretty sure you know each other, and I--" Kori's hand had come to cover her mouth. For a second, Mari thought she had been overjoyed to see him, but then she saw the tears falling out of her mother's eyes before Kori fled the room. Richard waited just long enough that they heard a door slam somewhere upstairs. Mari made a move to go and reason with her mother, but richard touched her shoulder gently.

"I'll go." He left and she heard him running up the stairs.

Kori sat on the edge of her bed, crying. So he had come back. After who knew how many years, he made his presence kown to her. So what was she going to do about it?

Her bedroom door opened and Richard came in. He closed it behind him. "Kori..."

Kori brought her knees to her chest and refused to look at him. "Leave."

He sat down beside her. "No. Not until you hear me out."

Kori started to sob. "Hear you out? What is there to hear? 'I'm sorry, Kori, but I decided to leave you as soon as I found out you were pregnant. I'm sorry I couldn't help support your daughter'?"

"No--"

"Well, there is nothing else to hear! There is nothing you could possibly say to get me to do anything Richard! I am done! Almost thirty years I have wasted my life in misery, waiting for you! And now, you can't even admit that Mari is your daughter!"

"Kori, I didn't know! I left before anyone found out! I was scared, Kori. You know how I was. I was scared of anything hurting you, I could barely sleep at night knowing someone could use you to get to me. Kori, I was weak. You knew that!"

Kori sniffled quietly. "That changes nothing."

"What do you mean? It may change nothing for you, but you have no idea how much it tortured me to have to choose between you and your safety. Kori I loved you, and I still love you. You have no idea what I've become without you."

"Apparently, much happier! So you were afraid of villains! Tell me, what villain could possibly do anyone harm when they are now seventy years old?"

"I only knew Slade died a couple years ago, Kori. I didn't know where you were, and I'd completely lot track of the Titans, all the Titans. You have to believe me, Kori."

Kori shook her head slowly. "I cannot, Richard. I don't think I ever knew you. I don't think Mari and I are ready to have a man in our lives. We have been fine without you."

Richard stood up slowly. "Oh," he said. He had taken for granted that Kori still loved him, but now she was saying she never had. Apparently he had been a mistake. "Oh."

He left the room and closed the door behind him. Mari was waiting for him outside in the hallway. She looked at him expectantly. Richard gave her the smallest and saddest of smiles before hugging her. He pulled away after a minute. "I just want you to know, I love both of you. I'm so sorry I never could have been your father, because I know I would have wanted to, and I still want to, but you're all grown up." He glanced once more at the door behind him and then let himself out. Mari walked into her mother's room.

"Mom?"

Kori's face was soaked with nearly thirty years' worth of unshed tears. She opened her arms, begging Mari to come to her side. Mari hugged her mother and Kori cried uncontrollably.

"I want him back, Mari. I want him back," she sobbed. Mari started crying as well, though she had no idea what had transpired between Richard and Kori. She had the feeling her mother would never be the same.

That was before they heard about the crash.

Another cliffhanger! I love those! Lol. Well, in case I didn't make it too clear, Dylan is Rachel and Gar's son and he's Mari's best friend (sound familiar? ha). Review please!