It was late September, and the Titans had already been staying at the Wayne Manor for three extra weeks than what was planned. After Batman and Nightwing alerted the Titans of the situation with Red Hood, Raven called the hospital in Jump City to brief them on her situation. They couldn't be too upset, especially when she let them know that the Titans would be returning to defend the city. The four of them also made a video call to the mayor of Jump City to discuss their return. When he saw Kori, he just about had a heart attack. The just brushed over details about Kori's return, and how she could possibly be alive, but they can expect to see all sorts of crazy stories in the papers. The Titans will be welcomed back to Jump City graciously.

Batman and Nightwing have allowed Cyborg to teleport to and from the Tower to oversee the renovations of their home. Kori's furniture was returned to Jump, and Raven and Beast Boy made arrangements for their belongings to be returned to the Tower. The four of them are anticipating going back home.

Ever since the night of the charity ball, Kori and Dick have ceased any and all communication. Unless you would consider longing glances a form of communication, which in their situation, it could be. The two have continued to be stubborn, much to Raven's dismay. She has tried to reason with her friends, but to no avail.

Kori tries to convince Raven and the rest of the team that she is unbothered by her lack of communication with Dick. Yet for the past three weeks in training, she has not lifted her feet off of the ground. The others have not seen her fly and they know very well that her flight is connected to "unbridled joy". When they try to speak with her about it, she finds some way to avoid the subject, or leave the room altogether. The team decided to just let her be, hoping that eventually the stubborn lovers will sort things out.

Upon his return to Bludhaven, Dick has made exceptional progress with the police department. He was promoted to Senior Detective after solving three cases that others just could not figure out. As Nightwing, he has assisted in the imprisonment of several drug lords and has managed to bring in some of Blockbuster's men for questioning. With the help of Oracle, he is currently searching for more information Blockbuster in hopes to end his stranglehold over the city of Bludhaven.

He would always silently thank God for bringing Kori back into his life. If you were to ask him about it, he wouldn't admit it, but he knows she's the reason why he's suddenly adopted a magnificent work ethic. Looking back on his time in Bludhaven, he is ashamed. He never truly went that extra mile to help the city, only doing so much at a time. What happened to Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans, who could solve any case and take down any criminal? It was time that Bludhaven saw that person.

Everyone knows that Kori and Dick have stubbornness in common. But what is unseen to the public eye is their ability to act. Kori pretends that she doesn't miss Dick more than anything in the Vegan solar system. Dick scoffs, claiming that Kori didn't rip a whole in his chest. Kori says that Xavier has made things better. That the phone calls and dates that they have engaged in fill that empty void. Dick tells Raven that he's not following Kori as Red X everywhere she goes.

And Kori doesn't tell anyone that she sees Red X trailing behind her, still very much believing that under that mask is Xavier Redd.

...

"Now where is he taking you?" asks Raven somewhat impatiently. She lies on Kori's bed, shielding her eyes as she takes off yet another outfit that just wasn't good enough.

"Well, he asked me if I had seen the botanical gardens in Gotham, and when I asked what botanical gardens were, he said that he would show me."

"That's it?"

"Dinner as well, I would assume. I am not quite sure. Why, does he not fit your high standards?" Raven scoffed. "You may open your eyes now."

"It's not that he doesn't 'fit my standards'- I like that dress by the way- I think I'm just a little biased."

"I have heard it all. But I am happy with Xavier."

"Sure you are," she says grumpily. Kori shoots her a look. "You look pretty though." Kori smiles, running her hands over the fabric of her striped sweater dress.

"What about the leggings?" she asks, slipping her feet into her knee high black boots.

"It all looks great. Can I be done now?" Kori giggles.

"Oh Raven, you have improved your skills in the female bonding. Perhaps we should go out for the manicures and pedicures."

"And that's where I draw the line," says Raven as she gets up from the bed.

"What about the lingerie shopping. I am sure Gar would appreciate-"

"Azar, Kori!" exclaims Raven. Kori giggles again.

"I thank you for assisting me in choosing my outfit." She lunges for her friend, lifting her up in a tight hug.

"Okay," wheezes Raven as Kori sets her back down. "But before you go, you need a checkup." She signals for Kori to sit on the bed before she places her hands on her head. Kori sighs as the warm healing sensation spreads over her forward and across her scalp. The past three healing sessions haven't seemed to bring about any more memories. Raven won't say it, but she believes the memories stopped coming back once Dick left, as though Kori was not suppressing them. In a few minutes, Kori is released, and Raven is heading for the door.

"Have fun, be safe, don't stay out too late," says Raven as she opens the door.

"Yes Mom," sings Kori, grinning at her friend. Raven smiles before she exits, silently hoping that maybe the date won't go so well and her friend might finally come to her senses.

…..

"So," Xavier began, as he and Kori walked hand in hand towards the car, "how did you like it?" She thought back to the all of the different plants. The gardens were ascetically pleasing, as well as well as an Earth lesson for her. She did not remember there being so many different kinds of plant life on this planet. Tamaran was quite barren.

"The gardens were marvelous! Oh, I did not believe there could be that much green and life in this dreary city," says Kori.

"Hey, it's not that bad here." Thunder rumbles in the sky as if on cue. "Okay, I see your point." Kori giggles.

"I suppose the city does have good qualities, but without the sun, I feel most unsatisfied."

"Am I one of Gotham's good qualities?" asks Xavier as he opens the car door for her. He waits until she has settled in, closing the door and moving to the driver's side.

"Xavier, you do not live in Gotham," says Kori slyly as Xavier takes his seat. He looks over at her, pouting playfully, as he starts the car.

"You know what I mean, cutie," he says. She fastens her seatbelt before he reverses out of the parking space.

"Now where are we going?" He smiles, but doesn't say anything. "Xavier," she whines, tilting her head and pursing her lips.

"It's a surprise," he says mischievously. "And stop trying to be cute; you're not getting anything out of me."

"I am sure, if I really tried, that I could get you to tell me," she says cheekily. He chuckles. It was a short drive to… wherever they were. They ended up in some parking garage.

"It's not much of a walk from here," he says. "Plus, this way you won't see where we are until we get inside." She huffs impatiently as he takes her hand, leading her to an elevator. In a matter of minutes, they're stepping out into the night. The lights from the "scrapers of the sky" twinkle as the stars would if they could be seen. That is one thing Kori disliked about the big cities. You could never see the stars. But on their little island in their Tower, the sky was open and beautiful.

"And this is it," says Xavier as he leads her to the doors. There are other people entering the building, and an older man holds the door open for him. Kori beams at him, politely thanking him, as Xavier tugs her hand. They approach a booth, standing in line behind several other people. They are all wearing winter garments, like hats and gloves. Kori pokes Xavier, giving him a questioning look.

"Oh yeah, hold on," he says, reaching into his pocket. Then he lifts up her hands and slips black gloves on each of them. "This should keep you warm enough. You have so much hair that your ears will stay toasty." He brushes her thick, straight hair back behind her ears, slightly smiling as he does so.

"Why would I need to stay warm?"

"You'll see."

They finally made it up to the booth where Xavier paid money and receive two little pieces of paper. He then led her to another booth where people were stepping away with boots that appeared to have blades on the bottoms. Her eyes widened at the sight. Why do these shoes have blades?!

Xavier hands the two pieces of paper to the man in the booth, and then asks Kori for her shoe size. She answers him, and then is given two of the boots with the blades. She stares down at the white shoes. How does one walk in these? Are they used for weapons? Is this some kind of strange, underground, earthen battle arena?

"Come over here Kori, so we can put these on." Still confused, Kori does so. They find a bench to sit on where Xavier removes his shoes. After he has his boots all tied up, he looks over at Kori. "What's the matter?" he asks.

"I… do not know what these are for." She would express her concern for the shoes, if she were with people who understood her predicament, like Raven… or Richard.

"Haven't you ever been ice skating?" She shakes her head. "Here," he says, getting down on the floor to remove her black boots. She protests, but he just waves her off. He settles the bladed boots on her feet, lacing them up. "Alright, it's going to be difficult at first, but I won't let you fall." He flashes his teeth at her before he stands up, balancing on the blades. She stares down at his feet, mesmerized by his act. He reaches down for her hands and pulls her up a little too quickly, because she ends up tumbling into his chest. He chuckles, grasping her shoulders to right her. She looks down at her own feet, watching as her ankles wobble.

"Hold onto my arm," he instructs as they begin to walk toward a set of doors. He swings them open, revealing a large walled in oval of white, which must be the ice. "Have you ever been to an ice rink?" he asks. She shakes her head. "Well, the Gotham Grizzlies hockey team practices here, but outside of practice hours, it's open for the public." They come to an opening in this "rink" and Xavier steps down on the whiteness.

"You just… glide." She watches as he seems to push off, sliding across the white on the blades of his boots. He makes a figure eight in front of her. She giggles as he glides around, his hair blowing back. It's like flying, but with your feet on the ground. But when he approaches her, hands reaching out to grab hers, she panics. Her eyes widen as she instinctively steps back. Xavier smiles encouragingly.

"Kori, it's okay." He holds his hand out, waiting for her. "I won't let go of you." She hesitantly reaches out, letting him guide her onto the ice. With one hand she grips onto the wall, and with the other she holds Xavier's tightly. She allows him to pull her next to him as he glides over the ice at a slower pace than what he had before. This would be so much easier if she could use her flight, but she hasn't been able to lately.

But as she becomes a little more trusting, she lets go of the wall, "skating" more towards the center of the ice. Xavier weaves around the other people with Kori in tow. As she watches him, she tries to move like he does, sliding one foot in front of the other. She smiles brightly as this movement allows her to keep pace with him. They continue to hold hands as they form a figure eight around the ice rink, as many other people seem to be doing as well. Soon they end up near the wall once again.

"Xavier, I would like to try on my own now," says Kori, releasing him from her grip. He smiles, signaling for her to go ahead. He stays back by the wall, watching as she pushes off. She starts out slowly at first, feeling the absence of her partner. She looks around at the other people, becoming distracting while watching their interactions. She doesn't even notice when she gets too close to the wall.

She looks up just in time to see it, but is too late to react while on skates. The toe of her skate hit's the wall, spinning her around on the ice. She hunches down and braces herself, making her body stiff as she waits out the spinning. But as she begins to straighten out, the movement causes her to tip. She tries to catch her balance but to no avail. Her feet fly out from under her and she falls hard on her bottom.

She sits there, heart beating fast as she catches her breath. She rarely has to experience the sensation of falling, but she had no flight to catch herself. Though hovering over the ground when she fell wouldn't be very human-like anyway. She uses her hands to try and push up from the ice, but she slips right back down. She huffs, growing more and more frustrated by the second.

"You okay?" asks Xavier, as he slides to a stop beside her. He looks down at her, biting his lip to suppress his smile.

"Do not laugh at me," says Kori sternly. With that, he lets out a chuckle.

"Okay, okay. I'm not laughing, cutie." He skates around behind her, suddenly pulling her up from under her armpits. She slumps back against him as she tries to regain her balance. "You were doing great," he says, spinning her around to face him. "You just got a little distracted is all. Wanna go again?" She smiles, nodding her head enthusiastically.

They stayed there for about an hour and a half before the ice rink closed, then walked back to the parking garage. As they settled into the car, Kori began to feel heaviness in her eyelids. She rested her head back against the seat.

"So, ummm, back to my hotel?" Xavier asked. Kori nods and he drives off. His parents live in Gotham, but from what he has told Kori, they do not have the best relationship. Whenever he comes to Gotham, he stays in a hotel room. Alfred had dropped Kori off at the hotel, and had told her to call him when she was ready to return to the manor. Xavier insisted on dropping her off, but she didn't want to trouble him with the drive.

Very soon they arrived at the hotel. Xavier rushed out of the car to open the door for Kori, and she beamed up at him. He really is a sweet man, she thinks, and I had so much fun with him tonight.

"You said Alfred was going to pick you up?" Kori nodded, leaning against the car. Xavier did so as well. "You know, you could just stay here. With me." She looks up at him, seeing the way he's looking down at the ground. It's hard to notice without much light, but she can tell he is blushing. She doesn't want to let him down, but…

"I am sorry, Xavier, I have early morning plans with Rachel."

"Oh, uhh, okay…" She frowns, reaching down for his hand.

"Perhaps another time?" At that, he smiles. But his smile breaks when he lets out a long yawn. "You may enter your hotel. I do not mind waiting. He will not be long."

"No Kor, I can't leave you out here alone."

"I assure you, I will be fine. Go on, I insist." She smiled reassuringly, boring her eyes into his. She knew the effect her eyes had had on… Richard…perhaps they would work on him.

For a second, he just stares at her. His deep blue ocean eyes transfixed on hers. She grins, placing her hand on his cheek as she leans up to kiss him. When she steps back, his eyes remain closed.

"O…kay," he says, smiling goofily. "Goodnight, cutie." She waves at him as she walks away, and then places her fingers against her lips.

It just doesn't feel right, she thinks to herself. It doesn't feel the way she remembered kissing. Although, the only other person she ever kissed for reason's other than obtaining a language was Richard.

But it did not feel like firework erupting from her head to her toes, or taste like cotton candy and give her butterflies.

It was just… ehhh.

She let it go, thinking she was just letting it all get to her head. She doesn't miss him, doesn't need him.

She never called Alfred to make sure he was coming. She had decided to walk back to the manor, and then tell Alfred that Xavier had taken her home. She realizes this is going against Richard and Bruce's demands that they never be alone, but she really needs that alone time. Sitting in her room at the manor… well, it isn't her room. She feels like an intruder and never really feels comfortable. It will be nice to get away for a little while. She begins to walk, following the sidewalk through the city. There are other people around, but they are not disturbing her. She's still getting that alone time that she needs.

Her eyes wander around the city, only paying attention to things like the "walk" and "stop" signals before the crosswalks and the other people around her so that she doesn't run into them. Her mind selectively looks around while part of her considers her date and her life, her return and her future with the Titans. She almost didn't notice the perching figure on the rooftop of a building across the street. She eagerly waits to cross the road as the sign continues to blink red. She peaks around over the heads of the people around her, trying to keep her eyes locked on the figure.

She knows that it's him. She's seen him out and about every time she's gone out with Xavier. What's strange is that she only ever sees him after her and Xavier have gone separate ways. This only leads her to believe that Red X really is Xavier.

And she doesn't mind him following her. It's like Xavier is just protecting her as she goes home, always watching, but keeping his distance. She's sure that if there was trouble he would emerge from the shadows. But she's tired of his hiding.

The light changes to a green image of a stick figure walking, and she moves with the other people across the street. She watches the figure with her peripheral vision, seeing him drop into an alleyway. She turns the corner swiftly, searching through the darkness for Red X. Her eyes work well in the dark, and she catches his movement. She walks down the alley, keeping her eyes on where she saw him moving.

"X." she says, slipping off her ring and lifting her fist in a starbolt. Her green light illuminates the alleyway, revealing a Red X with his hand on his belt, ready to teleport. But he doesn't.

"Hey, cutie," he says.

"You have been following," she states. He shrugs. "Why?" she asks.

"I just… uhhh, I'm sorry," he says, slightly cringing back.

"I am not angry with you." He looks at her sharply. If he wasn't wearing a mask, she was sure his face would hold an expression of surprise.

"Really? I would've thought you'd be pissed off."

"No, I just want to know why." She wanted to pull it out of him, make him admit that he was protecting her. Make him admit that he was Xavier.

"Sorry, if I told you, I'd have to kill you." He draws a line over his neck playfully.

"Well, if you don't tell me, I'll have to kill you," She steps closer, the green light growing brighter against him. She wasn't ready for him to grab her wrist and pull her onto the rooftop.

She stumbles forward, but he keeps a hold on her wrist and pulls her up. "Careful there, cutie," he says, and Kori can hear the laughter in his voice. Well, not his voice. She wishes she could actually hear him. She would recognize Xavier's deep tone anywhere. She looked him over, analyzing every part of him. Does he seem shorter than Xavier?

"What?" he asks. She looks away, blushing. "Oh I see. You're checking me out."

"I was doing nothing of the sort," she says, turning pinker and pinker.

"That's alright, cutie. You're lookin' pretty good yourself." She shot him a look, but the corners of her mouth turned up.

"So, who's the guy?" he asks, walking over to the building's edge to lean on the side. Starfire follows him.

"Do you not know?" She would get it out of him. Why wouldn't he want to tell her? She wouldn't turn him in, although she does look down upon his criminal activity. Though she hasn't heard of any trouble with Red X lately. Maybe he's turned good, and is seeking her out for help.

"No, that's why I asked," he says. "And I have another question."

"Do the shooting," she says. He laughs, and she glares at him.

"Oh, I love the way you talk. But anyway," he turns toward her. "Don't you hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?" She really should though. He stole Richard's suit and tormented them as the Teen Titans.

"Uhh, well for obvious reasons." He seems to study her. "But you're alone with me. Again. Are you coming onto me?" She smacked him on the arm, possibly a little too hard because he starts rubbing his shoulder.

"I apologize," she says, "I do not hate you, but I do not appreciate that question. It is inappropriate." She wonders why Xavier would be acting this way, but she remembers Red X flirting with her during battle. He's just so much different without the mask. It is strange.

"Sorry," he mutters. "But back to my first question. Who is he?"

"Why, do you feel the jealousy?"

"Nahh, I know you only got eyes for me." His voice was flirty, but laughing, like he was trying to push her buttons. She shrugged it off, deciding to ignore that.

"You do not need to know who he is. I do not want you going after such a wonderful…" she tilts her head, fluttering her eyelashes, "sweet, handsome man." Perhaps she could flirt the answers out of him. He clears his throat.

"I see you drank the guy's kool-aid. No one's really that great. You're blinded."

"Oh no, he is that great. But perhaps there is one other who is just as wonderful."

"Who might that be?"

"If I told you," she says, strutting up closer to him. She places her hand on his chest, looking into his masked eyes. "I would have to kill you."

"You…" She felt him shudder under her hand, and she slowly curled her lips into a smile.

"Would you mind assisting me to Wayne Manor?" she asked, stepping away again. She heard him take a deep breath before answering her.

"Can't you fly?"

"As of late, I have found it difficult." She was surprised when he didn't question her further. He grabbed her hand before placing his hand over his belt. Before she knew it, she was outside the manor.

"How does your teleporter work, X?" she asked, turning back to look at him, but he was no longer there. She looked around, realizing that she was alone. He must have teleported away right after they arrive here. Her shoulder's slumped, somewhat disappointed. But she had no doubt that she would see him again soon.


Next chapter is going to get a little more serious... Reviews please! :)