Kori took a step back and sighed as she finished packing up Dick's car. It was strange to her that she had arrived with Karen in her car and was now going back with someone she had met on the holiday. It seemed slightly unreal how much Kori really trusted Dick but it felt right to trust him. When she had been with Xavier, she practically forced herself to trust him but she had never felt good about it.

She was lost in thought when Dick wrapped an arm around her waist and made her jump. He kissed her forehead and sighed, "I think we've got everything in..." He trailed off, thinking back through everything that had been packed.

"Agreed. Remind me... Who is going with who again?" Kori wondered, confused about how everyone was travelling back home.

Dick smiled, "You're coming with me, Karen is taking herself and Vic and Wally is taking himself, Jen, Gar and Rachel." He stated, almost confusing himself. Kori nodded, showing that she understood.

The group gathered and they began getting ready to leave. Wally yawned, "I love it here and everything but I am craving my own bed so badly right now." He mumbled,

"Well we should probably get going. We don't wanna hit traffic." Dick suggested, earning nods of agreement from everyone.

"Oh! Hey did you guys wanna meet up for dinner tonight when we're back?" Jenny proposed,

"Sounds good!" Vic agreed, after glancing around and noting everyone's expressions of apparent agreement.

They all gave each other hugs and exchanged numbers with each other. Dick smirked while he leaned against his car as he saw Vic ruffle Kori's red hair. It was nice to see the start of a sibling-like bond beginning to grow between his girlfriend and his friends. In general, he was so glad that they had all met. He had never seen Garfield as happy as he was with Rachel. They seemed to have a type of connection that he still didn't understand that much. She was dark and sarcastic and he was light hearted and humorous. He guessed it was the work of 'opposites attract'. In contrast, Vic and Karen were so similar in food, music and film taste. They were as similar as two people could be. As for Wally, Dick had never seen him suited more perfectly to a girl. Him and Jenny had such a connection that it seemed like they had been together for years, rather than a couple of weeks.

Dick shook his head to release himself from his thoughts. He smiled as he saw Kori bounding over to him, "Ready?" She asked, clasping her hands in front of herself.

"Yup. Let's get going, Kor," He stated, opening her door for her. Kori smiled in thanks and got in. Dick closed the door and made his way around to his side and got in.

After about 2 hours, Dick was cruising along the familiar streets of Gotham. He had to admit, he enjoyed being back where he believed he belonged. This was the place he had grown up and it was always a nice feeling to come back to it after being away.

As he rounded a corner, he looked over and noted Kori was still sleeping calmly. He was pleased that she hadn't had any more nightmares in a while. He smiled; she looked so angelic while she slept. Her face was expressionless and her true beauty could really be defined but thinking that, Dick realised that she was always beautiful; asleep or awake.

He gently touched her knee in hopes of her waking up. He hated to disturb her but they were getting closer to the manor where he wanted to briefly drop his stuff back before carrying on to Kori's house.

"Kori?" He said in a hushed tone.

Kori slowly stirred and after a minute, her eyes flickered to reveal her jade orbs. Dick smirked at the adorable face she pulled as she sat up and stretched her arms above her head,

"Hey," He chuckled,

"Greetings," Kori mumbled, a yawn tugging at her.

"Is it okay if we stop by the manor real quick? I wanna drop my stuff back," Dick asked,

"Of course," Kori returned,

"I wonder if Bruce will be home..." Dick thought aloud to himself,

"Oh..." Kori groaned, "That worries me..."

"Kori, he'd probably love you. He always says he only wants his sons to be happy in life." Dick paused and took Kori's hand in his, "And you make me happy."

Kori smiled at his sweet words and she relaxed a little.

Dick turned the last corner and the manor was well within his sights. Kori gaped at the manor, "You truly live there?" Kori asked, astounded by the sight of it,

"It's not as big as you think," Dick chuckled,

"Oh really." Kori replied, sounding disbelieving. Dick laughed and drove up to the gate. He typed in the security code that activated the gate to open. He drove in and up the small hill that led the way up to the manor doors.

Dick parked right outside and looked over at Kori who practically had her face glued up against the window, "You were mistaken. It is definitely as big as I thought." Kori stated,

Dick smirked and got out of the car. He wandered round and opened Kori's door for her, giving her a hand as she stepped out.

He gently took her hand and together, they walked up to the main doors. Dick fished around in his pocket to find his keys and he let them in after a moment.

Kori gasped as she stepped inside. She looked around the foyer which led into the main room and a large dining room. On the right side was the large kitchen that Kori considered bigger than both her own living room and her kitchen put together! The floor was flawlessly polished and the walls were a sophisticated shade of grey that was light but was also distinct enough not to be mistaken as white.

"I would like to reemphasize how gigantic this place truly is, Richard..." Kori breathed, turning to him as he entered with his bags in tow.

"Yeah... I guess it's alright," Dick joked, earning a playful nudge from Kori. He decided to put his bags down by the window in the main room until he returned later on. He sighed as he straightened up after dragging his bags in and wandered back over to Kori.

Suddenly, a woman rounded the corner and gasped with apparent delight. Kori noted that she was very pretty indeed. She had dark brown hair with eyes that matched perfectly and her skin was tanned but lighter than Kori's. She was very slim and very tall too. Kori smiled and straightened her back, wanting to make a good impression on whoever this woman was.

"Oh! Dick, you have returned home and you have a new friend, I see... A very beautiful one at that." The woman stated, casting her warm eyes at Kori with a bright smile.

Kori blushed a light pink and her smile widened, "Thank you, Miss..." She trailed off, prompting the woman to finish her sentence.

"Call me Talia, my dear," She replied, walking over to them. Dick rolled his eyes,

"You're so embarrassing, Talia," Dick groaned,

Talia playfully rolled her eyes and smirked at Kori who laughed politely. Dick sighed and took the hint from Talia to introduce them to each other.

"Talia, this is Kori Anders... My uh..." He paused, looking to Kori for confirmation of the word 'girlfriend'.

"His girlfriend," Kori aided, gently shaking Talia's hand. Dick cast a small smile to her and continued,

"Kori, this is Talia Al Ghul; Bruce's... Girlfriend? They're weird. They have a son together but don't like to label themselves as a couple... Isn't that right, Talia?" He explained, turning to Talia with a smirk.

Talia waved her hand tilted her head, "Psh, call it what you will. It doesn't bother me what we are 'labelled' as," She replied, using air quotations with her fingers. Kori grinned at Talia. She knew they would most likely get along quite well.

"Yeah... Well, we need to get going... I just came to drop my stuff back and I'll be home later..." Dick informed her, lightly pushing Kori towards the door.

To Dick's horror another member of the household wandered in. Alfred looked shocked like Talia had but not to the same extent.

"Good afternoon, Master Dick. I trust your trip was enjoyable... And I see you have a guest with you," Alfred stated.

Dick let his face fall into his hands, "Please god, kill me now." Dick begged, feeling quite embarrassed. Kori smirked and lightly patted his arm. Talia grinned and stepped towards Alfred.

"This is Kori; Dick's new girlfriend," Talia introduced. Kori took a step forward and placed her hand out to politely shake Alfred's.

"It is a pleasure to- Oh!" Kori squeaked the end part of her sentence as Dick began pushing her out of the door,

"Yup. Great. Wonderful. We gotta get going. Bye guys." Dick deadpanned, his cheeks flaming.

"Uh, it was nice to meet you!" Kori called as Dick pushed her out of the door, gently.

"You too, my dear!" Talia answered, smirking at Dick. He rolled his eyes and left as quickly as possible. He cringed as he closed the door behind him, knowing that every resident of Wayne manor would know about his new relationship status by the late afternoon. Tim, Jason, Damien and even Bruce. Ugh.

Dick sighed, "Sorry about that... Talia likes to meet people..."

"I liked her very much. She seems very nice indeed as well as the older gentleman who I did not get to learn the name of." Kori answered,

Dick smiled, "That's Alfred. He's our butler but he's practically family." He explained,

Kori nodded to show that she understood. Dick held open the passenger side door and turned to Kori, "Now, let's get you to your place." Dick said with a smile,

"Despite the fear of Xavier still being there, I am thankful to not still be living with my family. I cannot yet face my sister." She sighed.

Dick softly took her hand and brushed his thumb against her skin to reassure her, "You'll be okay. I'll be there, remember?" He said in a hushed tone, earning a smile from Kori.

It seemingly took all of 10 minutes to drive to Kori's house. Kori gave into a shaky sigh as she gently placed a hand against her white front door. She reached into her pocket and brought out her key. She opened the door and stepped inside, with Dick right beside her the entire time. She placed her bags down in the hallway by the stairs and quietly wandered into the main room. She turned to Dick who pointed around the room and gave her thumbs up.

She silently giggled but stopped immediately when she heard sudden eerie whistling coming from the kitchen. She looked towards the door leading to the kitchen and she swallowed the lump in her throat. She slowly walked over to the door and pushed open the door, revealing the person who she had been dreading since she last saw him.

Xavier shot her a grin that made her feel cold and made her feel instantly threatened. He placed her cup of coffee down on the table and straightened up, making Kori feel intimidated.

"Told you I'd-" Xavier was cut off as Dick walked in with a harsh scowl on his face. He took a protective stance and placed his hands on Kori's shoulders.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Xavier seethed, gritting his teeth.

"Correction. This is my house. You do not pay anything for it, Xavier." Kori stated, feeling confident with Dick being with her.

"Whatever. God, why do you always do that? Always placing blame on me, for fuck sake." He growled,

Kori sucked in a breath as the pointless conversation was getting her nowhere, "Xavier, I have already told you that our break up was initiated. I wish for you to collect your things and move out immediately."

Xavier chuckled and then frowned which caused a horrible tingle to spark at Kori's spine, "Never tell me what to do, whore." He hissed,

Kori opened her mouth to speak but Dick got there first and stepped between them, "You did not just call her that." Dick said, through gritted teeth.

Xavier took a step closer to him, "What are you gonna do about it, rich boy?" He urged,

Dick shrugged and turned away but in a flash turned back and his fist connected with Xavier's jaw with a painful crack. Dick didn't care what it was that had broken or disconnected; he was just happy that he had done damage.

Kori was frozen to the spot and had no idea what was going to happen next.

Xavier regained his balance and his eyes were lit with anger. Dick was ready for whatever Xavier was gonna do. He had just about had with this guy hassling Kori.

Xavier dove and took Dick down to the ground, landing a punch against the side of his face, evidently splitting his lip. Kori gasped and watched as the two of them thrashed. Dick growled and kicked Xavier off of him back through the door. This was the one time Dick was happy to have martial arts backing him from when he was a kid. Xavier rolled across the floor of the main room and rolled his shoulders as he sat up. Dick stood up and wiped his lip that was still bleeding. He growled and tackled Xavier who had gotten to his feet. They struggled while standing and Dick pushed him forcefully and kicked his chest, causing him to stumble backwards out the door.

He staggered down the front steps and glanced up at Dick with clenched teeth. Dick stood with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked down on Xavier like he was vermin.

Xavier grunted and shook his head, "You know what, Kori? You aren't even worth this shit. Don't ever come crawlin' back to me cos' I won't accept trash like you." He informed her.

Dick took a step forward and growled. Kori pressed a soft hand against his chest and shook her head at him, telling him that she would handle it.

"Agreed. I will send your things to you, Xavier. Goodbye." She calmly responded. Xavier aimlessly waved his hand, signalling that he couldn't care less. He stomped down the street and Kori watched him go until he was completely out of sight.

Kori took Dick's hand and led him back inside and closed the door behind them. She turned to him and sighed at the cut on his lip, feeling ashamed that she allowed him to get so involved.

"You should have let me-" Kori cut him off by shaking her head,

"It would not have helped the situation, Richard," Kori replied quietly.

"Yeah... I guess,"

"Thank you... I am so relieved to know that he is gone now."

"Gone for good?"

"I know that he will do nothing more."

Dick smiled, "Good," He stated. The smile caused him pain as he aggravated his fresh wound. She offered her hand to him which he took straight away.

"We must clean your wound," She directed, leading him to her downstairs bathroom.

It had taken longer than Kori had expected for the cut on Dick's lip to stop bleeding but they had arrived at the restaurant to meet their friends on time. So, now they were all sitting around the table in separate conversations with one another. Dick made a face as he felt pain and discomfort from his lip suddenly. Kori turned and noticed and she gently touched his arm,

"Are you alright?" Kori asked,

"Yeah... My lip kinda hurts." He admitted,

"Oh, fear not. I brought the 'painkillers' for you, just in case." She told him, reaching inside of her purse and popping him two tablets. She handed him the tablets and slid her water to him so that he wasn't taking them with alcohol.

He knocked them back and stuck his tongue out, disliking the taste. Kori smiled and softly kissed his cheek before turning back to Rachel to continue talking. Dick sighed in content and noticed Wally staring at his lip.

"What?" He questioned, feeling uncomfortable with the staring from his best friend.

"What happened to your face, man?" Wally wondered,

"Uh... I'll tell you about it later..." Dick stuttered, not wanting to bring it up there and then. Wally nodded and grinned, excited to hear what happened.

Vic cleared his throat and sat forward in his chair. He smiled as he gained everyone's attention,

"Guys... I kinda wanna make a toast... We've had an awesome past two weeks and I can't wait to start hanging out with you guys more. So... Without being all mushy... I say we make a toast... To new beginnings," Vic announced, raising his glass,

"To new beginnings," The others cheered, raising the glasses alongside him. Dick knew his, 'new beginnings' were revolved around Kori and he couldn't wait to start a future with her. He hoped that she and he were going to stay together for a long time because after only a short time, he couldn't imagine his life without her. He laced his fingers with hers and she turned to give him a smile. He leaned forward and gently placed a tender kiss against her lips, earning a wave of 'Aw' to roll off the tongues of their friends, causing them to pull apart and laugh.

Finding a 'soul mate' required time for searching and after a while, Kori and Dick had finally found theirs and they couldn't be happier...