Chapter 34 - Not The Same

So, who hates me? I had to do it. Anyway, unless I do a fourth arche, the story is nearing it's end. Still haven't decided if the ending will be a happy one or not, but I rarely know what a chapter is going to be about until I start typing. I'm a very impulsive person. 565 reviews for an update

Guest- the new 52 just pisses me off realy. They basically turned Starfire into a sex toy for Roy, and made her forget about Dick and the Titans. Basically what I am saying is fuck you DC.

It's guest- Funniest review I have ever read.

J.A.M.B- LOTS of drama to come.

Sweetums14- hahaha

I hate cliffies- your gonna hate me again then

Robstarforever2017- yeeeeeeeeesssss

Saturday, June 7th 11:15 PM - Nightwatch

Normal POV

Richard groaned and shut his eyes as the world around him began to spin. "Who's Kori?," he asked as he internally tried to put the pieces together in his head. Vic said he had rescued her from the Joker, but he didn't know a Kori, and wasn't the Joker in prison? What was going on? Why was everything so... hazy?

Everyone traded glances that ranged from confused to concerned to completely horrified if you were Kori.

"Ummm, your girlfriend?," Gar answered slowly, being completely lost.

Richard opened his eyes despite the pain the light above brought. He could see all his friends from Jump, Bruce, Wally, and then two girls he didn't recognize. One a tan red with amazing green eyes and the other was a blond who was in what looked like a Superman costume. "What are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend."

Kori looked like her heart was just forcefully ripped from her chest, and could already feel the tears gathering in her eyes. "Richard? You do not remember me?," she questioned as took a step forward.

His eyes widened slightly as he sat up. Did she just call him Richard? His mom was the only person to ever call him Richard,... and why was she crying? "Um, no."

Everyone traded glances once more. "Umm Dick, what's the last thing you remember?," Raven asked carefully.

Richard eyes found the floor as he thought. What was the last thing her remembered? A plane? Coming home from somewhere? Italy? Suddenly it hit him that he had taken a trip to Italy with Bruce and Tim, returning what felt like just yesterday. "The trip to Italy."

He suddenly became aware that nearly everyone in the room looked horrified besides the crying girl with red hair, who looked like her world had just ended. Was she the Kori girl? His so called girlfriend? No, there had to be some kinda mistake. Dick Grayson didn't have girlfriends, he had play things. Toys that could be put away when he no longer found them interesting... but if that was the case, then why did almost pain him to see her cry? Why did he want to turn away so damn badly? Or tell her it was all okay? Before he could think anymore on that subject, Bruce spoke up.

"Dick," Bruce began, sounding almost hesitant. "That was over a year ago."

Richard's eyes widened. "A year?," he exclaimed. "This has to be a joke, right?"

Wally shook his head, a somber expression on his usually enthusiastic face. "No buddy, this isn't a joke."

"He's right. A lot has changed over the last year," Raven added.

"Like what?," Richard asked, feeling realization and panic begin to set in. How could this be possible?

Gar took in a deep breath. "Well, you met Kori at school like ten months ago, and you two got into this really weird relationship. You would like hold hands and were all touchy-feely with each other. Then you made out with her on the beach, and finally ended up together after like a month of foreplay. After that you told her you were Nightwing, and it turns out she was an alien from Tameran."

He took in another breath. "Then you went to Gotham and got shot by the Joker, and Kori had to go into your head to bring you out. After that you were down for a two weeks, so we," he motioned around the room," tried to protect the city, but we got captured by Slade and he was going to kill us, but then you dropped in from the ceiling and went all badass on him. The Titans ended up being formed, and you proposed to Kori. Everything was going great until she got called back to Tameran to rule, but we went with he and you kicked this Prince Karras guys ass."

A pause as Gar tried to remember what happened next. "Oh, and then we met Superman's cousin, Kara," he motioned to th blonde girl, "at the hero's banquet. Also, we fought a giant mutant moth that exploded into a moth larva named Silkie, which kinda became you're and Kori's baby, and now were here," he finally concluded.

Richard tried to process that information. He was shot? He accepted Project Titan and let them in on it? He and the redheaded girl were not only dating, but were going to get married? And her planet? Was she an alien? Superman had a cousin, and a hot one at that? And a giant moth larva as a kid? All this was expressed perfectly in one word. "What?"

Obviously this was going to require far more elaboration. Over the next hour every important moment from the last year was recapped in great detail, everyone taking their turns. Richard came to a few conclusions during this time.

1. His life over the last year had been more eventful then any other time that he could remember.

2. He no idea how he was even alive at this point

3. For the last year, his life had revolved around this green-eyes girl named Kori/Starfire, who turned out to be a former alien princess from a planet called Tameran.

Upon completing to recap of his epic story called a life, a very emotional Kori took a seat beside him on the bed. She grabbed his had, earning his attention. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel somewhat nervous to be around her, but that could just because she was crying... either that or the fact he was engaged to a girl he didn't even know.

"Richard," she began a she looked him directly in his eyes. "Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me you do not feel anything when you see me?"

He studied her, looking into her green pools. Did he feel anything? Yeah, she was pretty, but hell, so was the blonde named Kara. He swallowed hard and looked down at the the concrete floor of the Nightwatch.

That was all the answer she needed. Hastefully rising from the bed, she ran from the room, Bee and Kara giving chase.

"Damn it!," Gar growled. "Why did you have to do that?"

"I didn't do anything!," Richard retorted. "It's not my fault that I can't remember her!"

"He's right. This isn't his fault," Raven commented.

Bruce looked over at her. "Is there anything you can do to make him remember?" He obviously had his own reasons for wanting Richard to remember. They had made so much progress on their relationship in the last six months, and now all those burned bridges that had been fixed were now once again destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Raven shook her head. "No, I can't do anything until something on the outside jogs his memory. It's impossible for me to recover memories that he doesn't have himself."

"So, how do we jog his memory," Wally asked as he took a seat beside his best friend.

Raven thought for a moment. She was no expert in this field, but the most logical answer to her was to make relive certain moments. She'd even go as far as to lock him in a room with Kori. In fact Kori could be the key to this whole thing. "Kori, he needs to spend as much time with her as possible. For the least ten months he has spent everyday with her, and we need to keep it that way in order for him to have a chance at remembering."

"I just made her cry. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want anything to do with me," Richard replied.

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Trust me Dick, this isn't the first time she's cried because of you and rather you remember or not, I can guarantee it want be the last."

With that Raven turned and left the room, Gar following behind her, which left only Richard, Wally, Bruce, and Vic in there. It was quite for a moment before Richard looked up at Vic. "Does she really love me, or does she love the money and the fame?"

"Man, if I knew you didn't remember, I would knock your teeth out your mouth for even thinking that girl didn't love you. She's proved it more times the I can even begin to count."

Richard sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. Apart of him, somewhere deep down in him, was really hating himself at the moment.

Bruce seeing his son's frustration, spoke up. "Regardless, being up at this hour is not going to jog your memory. You're all physically and mentally exhausted. The logical thing to do is for all of us to go to bed and reassess the situation in the morning when everyone's head is a little clearer."

Richard really didn't care about anything Bruce had to say, but he had to admit his mind was still swimming and he was tired.

Vic nodded to Bruce, and everyone cleared out of the Nightwatch, leaving only Richard there to remove his suit. Once that was acomplished he made his way into his room, but as he passed through the closet, he noticed there were a large number of women's close hanging up in there, which meant one of two things. Either sometime during the last year he had taken up cross dressing, or he and Kori were really as serious as everyone was saying. Both were scary thoughts. The only real girlfriend he could remember was Babs, and even that relationship was on the less serious side, even though they loved each other.

Shrugging it off for now, he grabbed some pajama pants before jumping into the shower. The warm water relaxed him, and he found himself trying to remember something... anything from the last year, but it was like a wall had been built up around that section of his memories and he just couldn't break it down. He remembered Kori crying earlier. For some reason it was still eating at him.

As he turned of the water he decided to pay her a visit if she were still awake. Throwing on his pajama pants, he went in search of the girl, which she wasn't to hard to find considering as soon as he stepped into the upstairs hallway he could hear chattering coming from the room just beyond his. As he reached the open doorway he found everyone inside, all having a hushed conversation, regarding him no doubt.

"Why wasn't I invited to the party?," he questioned as he leaned against the door frame.

Everyone answered as once, which was really nothing more than collective mumbles.

"Right... Anyway, can I talk with uhh Kori? Alone for a moment?"

She looked at him somewhat surprised, but she truthfully didn't know if she wanted to see him let alone be alone with him right now. It was just to hard. All those wonderful months, those glorious moments were gone, just like that. At least her eyes weren't raining tears anymore. She always hated crying in front of him.

Everyone glanced around at each other before another stream of mumbles came as everyone exited the room, leaving Richard gazing over at Kori, who sat on the bed with her head hung.

Sighing he walked over to the bed and sat down, putting about a foot of distance in between them. "Umm, so how are you doing?"

She glanced at him through the corner of her watery eyes. "The man I love more that anything doesn't even know who I am. I believe it is a rather pointless question to ask."

He ran his hands through his ebony hair and looked around the room as he tried to find something to say. Suddenly his eyes met one object that was familiar to him. On the nightstand beside her bed, sat a black pair of sunglasses that he recognized as his. Smiling slightly he reached for them and picked them up. "Hey, these are mine aren't they?," he asked as he turned back to Kori.

A sad smile crossed her face. "You gave me those the day we met. They are one of my most cherished items."

He glanced at them before smiling a little wider, and leaning over to place the glasses on her eyes.

She giggled as he studied her. "Yep, you definitely make those look better than I do."

"You said the same thing the day you gave them to me."

"I guess it must be true then."

Her smile suddenly fell and everything was quite for a moment. This wasn't the man she loved, but she could see him in there somewhere. "Richard?," she finally questioned after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Please remember," she begged

That stung his heart. He could feel something just beneath the surface, but it just wouldn't make itself known to him. He couldn't even begin to explain it it, but the pain she was feeling at the moment could be flt by him as well. "I'm going to do everything I can to. Raven said that you were th key to this, so we'll just hang out and stuff... If you want that is?"

"I want my Richard back, and I shall go to any lengths to get him," she replied.

"Your Richard? Aren't we the same?," he questioned, not having a clue what she meant.

Kori shook her head. "Though you are the most attractive man I know, I did not fall in love with your looks. I love your heart. You do not have the same heart as him," she explained. When she ran away crying earlier, he didn't give chase, he didn't come after, and that was when she was sure that her Richard was truly gone.

He nodded, actually understanding. "Well, if love can be lost then it can be found, right?"

She smiled. "My Richard says that too."

He laughed. "Seems like a smart guy... Now, how about you show me the uhh larva thing," he suggested.

"His name is Silkie. As Gar said, he is our child."

A chuckle escaped him "Fine, show me Silkie."

Kori beamed her first Kori like smile of the night before leading him from the room to across the hall. When she opened the door and turned on the light Richard's jaw dropped. It was a baby blue room full of baby toys and a cradle on the far side of the room. She had made a nursery for a giant moth larva? He followed her over to said cradle and found what looked like a giant sleeping caterpillar.

"Man, we have one ugly kid," he whispered so not to wake him.

"My Richard was not to fond of him at first either, but he came to love him just as I do. They enjoy watching the game of basketball together."

Richard continued to the study the creature, and for some reason he didn't know a light smile grew on his face.

Kori saw the smile and it was just another conformation that her Richard was there.

"Well, maybe I can catch a game with... uhhh him?" she nodded, clarifying that it was indeed a boy.

"He would like that. Silkie will not be able to see the difference in you, and he will treat you as his father just like he always does."

Richard looked over the sleeping larva once more before turning and leaving the room, Kori following behind him. "So," he began "What would we be doing at this time of the night usually?"

"Well, you would feed Silkie around nine and then I would tuck him in. We would then watch the news until it was time for patrol, then after we returned we would usually do the making love or watch a movie until we went to sleep," she responded.

"I assuming that's out of the question?" Just because he didn't love didn't mean he would pass up a oprotunity to sleep with her.

She frowned up at him. "My body is reserved for my Richard. You are not him, so yes, it is out of the question."

"Then what about a movie?," he asked. "We should do something we normally do, shouldn't we?"

She paused in the middle of the hall to consider it a moment. "I suppose, but on the couch. If we are the bed I will be tempted, and I know you will do the tempting."

She was right about that. "Fine," he agreed with a smile as he extended his hand out to her.

She studied it for a moment before a light smile crossed her face and she took his hand. She wasn't happy, but this was a start to getting there. Once again, was this her Richard? No. Was he alive inside this beautifully wrapped package? Yes. It was a start.

Sunday, June 8th 10:00 AM - Richard and Kori's house

Normal POV

Richard suddenly felt himself wake. He almost instantly noticed there was weight on him, sending warmth coursing through his body. Blinking his eyes open, he found Kori asleep on his chest, snoring lightly in the cutest way.

Richard smiled lightly as he stroked his hand through her hair. After a late night of watching movies such as the Notebook and finding Nemo he discovered just how sweet she actually was. He loved how she said certain things, even if it took him a minute to figure out what exactly she meant. It was easy to see how he could gave fallen in love with her.

Around three he had fallen asleep and somehow through the night he guessed they had ended up like this. It wasn't awkward in the least, he was actually pretty comfortable.

Feeling his stomach rumble and realizing he was starving to death, he slowly eased out from under her and made his way into the kitchen, surprised to find Kara sitting in there, eating a bowl of fruit loops.

When she noticed him enter she swallowed her mouth full of cereal and smiled up at him. "Hey Dick, how you feeling this morning?"

He smiled charmingly back and shrugged. "Don't know really, everything's hazy and my head still hurts a little."

"Your head had a pretty big gash in it. I had to stitch you up."

"Well, thanks for that," he replied, as he made himself a bowl a cereal before joining her at the table, sitting opposite her.

"No problem, couldn't let are fearless leader die, now could I?," she teased, while she mentally scolded herself for looking at his bare chest. Why did this man have to look like this? Could he at least put on a shirt?

He laughed a little. "You could have, but I'm glad you didn't. Rather I remember the last year or not, I enjoy living."

She wordlessly smiled back at him, looking into those electric eyes. She was really feeling like a bad friend at the moment.

Richard was studying her as well. The girl was gorgeous. Her bronze skin and revealing shirt were just to much for him to turn away from. At this point, Kori was just another girl to him. A heart melting smile crossed his face. "So, you're Clark's cousin, right?"

She swallowed another bite a nodded. "Mhhm, like I told you last night, he basically kept me on lock down in Kansas for three years, but after a lot of complaining, he finally introduced me to you, and it was pretty much over from there. I moved here like a week later and you've been training me ever since."

Richard stood and put his bowl away. "I see," he said as he put it away in the dish washer before making his way back over to the table, but instead of sitting opposite her, he sat down directly beside her. "Did we ever train privately?"

She swallowed becoming somewhat nervous. His eyes, they were just to... aggghhh! And that smile. Why her? "Umm sometimes, but we usually trained as a group."

Richard leaned in closer, his lips now being only a few inches apart from hers. "A shame. We could do a private session right now if you want?"

She felt her breath hitch and her body begin to respond to his teasing, but she wouldn't do this to Kori. "Dick I'm warning you, if you come any closer I'm going to rip off a certain body part that you share a name with, okay?"

He instantly leaned back into his seat and sighed. "Got it."

Just then Kori walked into the Kitchen rubbing her eyes, causing Kara's nerves to peak. She was so glad Kori hadn't seen that, but then again, it wasn't her who had done anything wrong. Richard was so different from the guy he was just a couple of days ago, and she wasn't sure she could handle being around him, especially if he was going to keep flirting with her. A guy like this was just to easy to fall for.

"Good morning Karra, morning Richard," Kori greeted them.

"Mourning," Kara replied as she urgently stood. "I thank I'll go take a shower before everyone gets up." And with that she left the room, leaving only a stoic Richard and a confused looking Kori there.

"Is she the okay?," Kori asked.

Richard just shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

Kori, shrugging it off, went to make herself a bowl of cereal. She needed the food, they had a long day ahead of them.

Sunday, June 8th 1:00 PM - Jump City Beach

Normal POV

After ever one had woken up from the hell that was yesterday, they decided that it would be fun to go to the beach. It was something the group often did last summer, and it was where Richard and Kori shared their first kiss, which quickly escalated into a heated makeout session, so it sounded like a good idea to pretty much everyone to go there. Maybe it would make Richard remember something.

Bruce made himself busy, dropping by the Wayne Enterprises' building in jump, while everyone else loaded up into the two available cars. Vic, a broken armed Bee, Raven, and Gar in Vic's charger, and Wally, Karra, Kori, and Richard in the Ferrari, which Kori wouldn't let him drive because she knew his head was still hurting. Kori had noticed that Kara had kept glancing at her from the front seat, and was confused by it. Eventually she got a text from her that read (Can we talk in a bit? It's important.)

Kori ad just stared at her oddly for a moment before nodding. Whatever it was clearly troubling her, and Kori would do anything to help her friend out.

Once arriving at the beach, Bee and Vic went for a walk, Gar and Raven sat under a tree and talked, Richard and Wally admired the many half-naked women around, and Kara drug Kori down to the shore, so that she could finally ease her guilty mind.

"So, what is it you wish to talk about, friend Kara?," Kori asked.

Kara sighed and began to fidget nervously. "Umm Kor, this morning I was sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast, and Dick came in there. At first we were just talking, but then he moved to sit beside, and was about to kiss me before I threatened to rip his penis off." She looked over at Kori to see that she looked crushed. "I'm really sorry, Kor. You know this isn't Dick. He wouldn't do that to you."

Kori fist clenched, and she bit her lower lip as she tried to fight back tears. Without responding to Kara, she stormed off to where Richard was, stopping just short of. "How could you?," she asked, sounding more heartbroken than angry.

Richard and Wally traded glances. "What are you talking about?," he asked.

"Kara told me you tried to kiss her."

Richard's eyes widened a little, but he quickly became stoic. "I did."

"You are heartless," she said bitterly.

"No, I'm confused. To me, yesterday I could do whatever I wanted without having to listen to shit from anyone, and now I'm engaged to some girl I don't even know," he retorted angrily, causing Wally's mouth to drop.

Kori's jaw tightened, tears now falling freely. She reached onto her finger and pulled off her engagement ring before tossing it to him. "Well, you do not have to worry about that anymore. I shall be out by tonight, and you may do as you please then. I am in love with my Richard, and he is clearly gone, so I am as well." With that she walked away.

Richard wordlessly looked down at the ring. He should feel relieved, but then why was his heart hurting? Why did he want to chase her, and apologize? Why did he feel like he just lost everything?

Man, I feel so bad for Kori, but life always doesn't have happy endings. Review.