* DISCLAIMER * This is a non-profit work of fan-fiction involving characters created and owned by DC Comics. * WRITTEN BY * Samy Merchi * ARCHIVED AT * http://mash.yok.utu.fi/~samerc/fanfic/index.html * CONTINUITY * Picks up right after JLA/TITANS #3. * MATURE CONTENT * This story includes: Severe sugar overdoses * DEDICATED TO * Marv Wolfman George Perez * STARRING * Dick "NIGHTWING" Grayson Koriand'r "STARFIRE" of Tamaran ********* * CLICK * ********* "-- twelve shots of tequila?" "Twelve shots of tequila?" Supergirl quirked an eyebrow as she pondered over the suggestion for a few moments, and then nodded. "All right, you've got a deal." "Ya better not let her win, Harper", Guy Gardner said as he started pouring a row of tequila shots onto the bar counter. "It's the male gender's pride at stake here..." "You worry too much, Gardner", Roy Harper answered with a smile as he placed his elbows onto the bar counter and watched the row of tequila shots grow. "You just do your job and pour the drinks, and I'll leave Superbabe eating my dust..." "Roy, I don't think she would get into this contest if she didn't know she'd win..." Cyborg whispered quietly to his fellow Titan. "Maybe you should back off --" "Back off??" Roy exclaimed, looking incredulously at Victor Stone. Then he glanced at Supergirl who was watching him, her lips smiling confidently. Roy placed a hand onto Vic's shoulder and leaned closer to whisper into Vic's ear, "Trust me, Vic -- you don't know chicks like I do. You're reading her wrong. She *wants* to lose, so she has an excuse to fall to my charms..." Superman decided not to comment despite his superhearing picking up Arsenal's words. Instead, he turned his attention to the other party. "Supergirl, you don't have to do this..." he said reassuringly. "I know", Supergirl smiled as he waited for Gardner to finish laying out the two rows of twelve shots of tequila. Then, she grabbed the first shot glass, and downed the drink. *** The world had just narrowly averted destruction, as usual. The Justice League of America and a collection of former Titans had grouped together to end yet another threat to Earth. In the aftermath, the heroes had congregated at the Warriors bar in New York owned by one Guy Gardner, former JLA member. The evening was slowly winding down. Most of the guests had already went home. *** "You know, I do a great rabbit." Huntress lifted an eyebrow and slowly turned to look at the green-skinned boyish man who had spoken. "Really", she said in a dispassionate tone as she let her eyes inspect the animal-morph Changeling from toe to top. Then, she turned her back on him and returned to watching the dark form across the room. "Or a horse, if that's more your speed..." She lifted her drink to her lips and took a thoughtful sip as her eyes lingered on him. Those eyes. So incredible. Dominating yet sweet. Naive yet intelligent. Rough yet gentle. She stopped herself from drowning into them. It wouldn't do. She wasn't the type to fall all over a guy. Really she wasn't. "A unicorn?" Helena again turned to regard Garfield Logan, a calm expression on her face contradicted by a slight narrowing of her eyes. "How about you do like an amoeba and split?" the words cascaded softly off her lips, enough of a whisper so that no one but the two of them heard them. Changeling frowned a bit indignantly. "Hmp. Fine. I can take a hint", he muttered, and then turned around, heading off. The Huntress returned her attention to where it had been previously, and as Garfield walked away, he glanced in that direction as well, curious as to what was so interesting. "Oh. That's a surprise", he grumbled. *** "-- so, I...uhm, no, I guess not..." Nightwing trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck with his gloved hand as he glanced across the room towards the bar. He paused. "Uh-oh... Roy's --" "So I was thinking, maybe you could come visit on the west coast sometime..." Flamebird said, not noticing Dick's diverted attention as she was far too busy trying to keep from biting her lower lip. "Or maybe I could come visit you over in Bludhaven, or something... Either's good for me, really -- which one would you prefer? I can do either..." Nightwing winced and placed a hand over his eyes, quickly looking away from the bar. *** Superman, to his credit, looked completely calm and stoic as Roy Harper's vomit slowly dripped from his face onto the floor and the 'S' insignia on his chest. Roy leaned against the bar counter for support and tried to keep his blurry eyes open and fight passing out. "I won", he said weakly with a wide, goofy smile on his face as Supergirl slammed the last empty glass of her tequila row onto the counter. Then, his legs went limp, and he collapsed onto the floor with a THUMP! Supergirl couldn't restrain a drunken giggle at the sight of the downed Arsenal and the dripping Superman. "Oh, this was *definitely* worth the price of admission..." she managed to breathe in-between bursts of giggling. "Always worth it to see Harper make a fool out of himself..." Cyborg said in a slow, ponderous tone as he started lifting the unconscious Titan up from the floor. "I'd better get him home... Has anyone seen Donna around?" "I think she left a while back with Lantern", Guy Gardner said, trying to restrain a smile at the sight of the vomit-covered Superman and not succeeding very well. He glanced briefly at the door as he saw another of the guests leaving and taking her big bush of hair with her. "And I think we should leave too", Superman said to Supergirl. "I think I'd better escort you back to Leesburg, you're in no condition for unsupervised flying..." "Oh, pooh on you...*hic*...killjoy", Supergirl wrinkled her nose playfully, and then giggled a bit as she hiccuped. "Oh well", she acquiesced with a sigh. "I suppose I've...*hic*...had enough fun for...*hic*...one night..." She raised a hand in front of her mouth as if she could conceal the hiccups. "I'm not going anywhere with...*hic*...someone looking like that, th*hic*ough..." Then she broke into another fit of giggles. Superman sighed quietly. "Would you happen to have a towel, Guy?" *** Flamebird smiled widely at the scene at the bar, and then shook her head in amusement, as she turned her attention back to her conversational partner -- only to find him gone. "Nightwing?" she murmured, her eyes blinking behind her yellow goggles. "He disappeared." *** Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran tried to look cold and stoic and strong and powerful as she walked down the sidewalk, heading away from the Warriors bar. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She didn't want anyone nearby right now. She didn't want anyone to see how close she was to falling apart. And even with New York being what it is, a 6'4" orange-skinned woman -- with hair bigger than most people were -- wasn't very likely to be ignored. So the remaining option leading to her being left alone was to be intimidating. She didn't know where she was heading, and for whatever reason, it didn't even seem important. She just had a burning need to...move. To do something. And not just sit in a corner at Warriors and try not to look at Dick. Dick. Dick Grayson. She had met him as Robin. He was now Nightwing. They had fallen in love. They had lived together. They had intended to get married. The wedding got crashed by enemies. Everything had gone horribly wrong. They had broken up. She had gone back to her home planet of Tamaran. It got destroyed. She hadn't known what to do. Alone. Without him. Her eyes turned upwards, to look at the sky. It was a full moon, and the white-dotted-with-darker-seas disk in the sky made her think of how the recent conflict with the insane Victor Stone had brought her back to Earth. The moon was back to normal now, no longer covered by the planet-gobbling entity he had become -- and he was back to normal again as well, a trusted sane friend once more. But one thing wasn't the same -- her homeworld was destroyed, and she was one of the last Tamaraneans left in existence. She no longer had a home, had no place to go to where she could feel she belonged. There wasn't a Titans team anymore that she could return to. Not on Earth, nor back in space, was there anywhere for her to go anymore. "RUN!" She blinked and looked up from her thoughts, confused. It took her a few moments to realize that she was in a dark alley. Four men were turning around and starting down the alley, as if fleeing from her. On the ground before her she saw a pair of knives. Slowly, she started to understand. Her heart skipped a beat as a dark shadow dropped down from above at her right-hand side. It would have been so easy, so tempting, to let her weak knees get the best of her, but she didn't allow that. Instead, she just watched, wide-eyed, the ballet of the body she had so longed for, as Nightwing took down the four would-be muggers. A small black throwing wing flashed thru the air, glinting in moonlight before impacting to a nerve cluster on the back of a mugger's skull, knocking the first one unconscious before he had taken a single step. He flipped thru the air in a leap that no other living person could replicate. He landed in a crouch right in front of the remaining three muggers. His lips moved, he said something, but Koriand'r didn't hear what it was, over the rushing blood in her ears. She knew it was some lame joke, and she felt like they had never parted ways. She blinked, and two of them were down already. He dodged a few knife-slashes from the remaining mugger, and then slapped his wrist against the mugger's, knocking the blade away, even as his other arm slammed the heel of his palm against the mugger's chin. The mugger toppled backwards, and crashed onto the ground onto his back. If her blood wasn't roaring in her ears, she could hear a tangible silence in the alley as his face briefly flashed into shadow, the lenses of his mask almost glowing in the darkness. "I could've handled them", she heard herself say. He blinked, and swallowed visibly, then glanced at his handiwork briefly before his eyes returned to look into hers. "Yeah, I know." His voice was hesitant, almost a whisper that echoed in the silence of the alley, like it was never going to die out. "I...didn't expect you to follow me." He avoided her eyes now, and looked down the alley, hoping to see police cars or something pull by to break this mexican standoff of a situation. Nothing showed up. The silence persisted, and he felt like it was constricting around them, trying to force them together. "I can go", he said. She didn't say anything, and he took her silence as a 'yes'. He pointed his glove at the upper reaches of the fire escape leading down to the alley. With a soft pneumatic sound, a line fired from the glove, a grappling hook glinting in the moonlight as it pulled the line behind it. His body tensed as the grappling hook found purchase, and he prepared to swing away. "Don't go", she whispered, looking away from him so she wouldn't have to know if he heard her or not. She just waited, for what seemed like an eternity, and tried to think of what she should say if he turned out to still be there when she turned around. Should she tell him that she loved him and she wanted to try again with him? She should at least ask first if he was involved with anyone else now... What if he was? She would just have to live with it, right? As long as he was happy... Right? "Are you okay, Kory?" Only an iron will managed to downgrade jumping under his touch to just tensing. Her shoulders were like steel cable, and on realizing that, his hand quickly withdrew, doubts assaulting his mind about things between the two of them maybe being much worse off than he had thought, if she couldn't even stand his touch. "Yes", she answered. Quick, determined, and to the point. "Oh." He paused, and lowered his eyes to the ground. His shoulder leaned against the alley wall as thoughts rushed thru his mind and he scrubbed a little dark spot of something on the ground with the tip of his boot. "And you?" she asked, finally turning around to look at him, her eyes searching out his. "I'm okay", he replied, and then took a deep breath, raising his eyes from the ground and meeting hers. "Look, Kory, I meant it when I said I don't want things to be awkward between the two of us --" "Let me hold you?" she whispered, stepping over to him and placing her hand onto his cheek. "Just for a moment..." His thin graceful lips parted, and he started to say something, but then thought better of it. He inhaled deeply, and then nodded, opening his arms to her. She stepped into his arms and put her own arms around his back. His arms wrapped around her as well, but he only held her lightly, while she squeezed him tightly. "I've missed you so much, Dick", she whispered into his ear. His arms tightened a bit around her, and his eyes closed behind his mask. "I've missed you too, Kory", he murmured, and then slowly pulled away from her arms, looking into her eyes, six inches higher up than his. "Can I give you a lift anywhere? I've got my car a few blocks away..." "No thanks", she said a bit hurriedly, shaking her head and making her huge bush of hair wiggle in that familiar manner that sent an electric shock thru his body. "It's okay", she continued and started quickly turning around. "I've got to go -- I'll see you around..." "No, wait", he said, his voice suddenly stern, stronger, and his hand grabbed her shoulder, holding her from going anywhere. "Where --" he started, and then hesitated, before asking the question anyway, even though he suspected the truth. "Where are you staying?" "I'm staying at Donna's place." "Really", he commented flatly, his hand not moving anywhere from her shoulder. "Yes, really." Her voice tried to remain strong and sure. Finally, his hand fell away from her shoulder. "I take it you're enjoying the midnight stroll then, since you're heading in the opposite direction from her place." She remained quiet. He might have had his failings in acting like a clumsy fool and mentally stumbling over things when it came to love, but in the end, he was the first, best apprentice of the world's greatest detective. "You've nowhere to go, do you?" "Not yet -- I'm waiting for the morning so I can try and get access to the accounts I had on Earth as Kory Anders", she admitted, realizing that lying to someone who a) she had been engaged to and opened most of the secrets of her heart to, b) who had been the leader of the Titans and evaluated people better than anyone she knew and c) was the Batman's best pupil -- well, it was kind of pointless. "And you're going to walk the streets until the morning", he stated matter-of-factly. They both suddenly became acutely aware of the sound of traffic carrying over to the alley from the streets around it, and he broke the silence by shaking his head and saying, "Look, you can stay at my place --" "Dick, we --" she started, and then hesitated, not sure what she wanted to say. She took a moment to gather her wits and formulate an argument. "Look, just because we used to be -- just because we have a past together doesn't mean I'm your responsibility. I can take care of myself, Dick." A hint of frustration and edge crept to her tone with the last sentence, as if on cue when a cold breeze swept thru the alley like it was trying to remind the two of the surroundings they had long since ceased to notice. The wind tousled her massive hair, buffeting it around slightly, and she pulled her coat a bit tighter around herself. "I'll be in touch", she said and turned around to leave. "It's not -- Well, it's *partially* because of our past, Kory", he spoke as she turned around. "We used to be in love, yes", he said, shooting an arrow thru her heart with the 'used to be'. "But we were always more than that -- we were Titans. And Titans aren't just a day job, they're a family -- *We're* family, Kory, even if we didn't get mar--" "There *aren't* any more Titans", she snapped, turning around to look at him with faintly smoldering anger. "There aren't any more Titans, and I don't have any more family on Earth!" She suddenly rose a bit higher, using her flight ability to rise off the ground and slowly hover upwards as if intending to fly off and leave him. "That's not true!" he argued. "Maybe the Titans don't exist anymore as a team, but that doesn't mean we're any less of a family anymore! Like I said, the Titans aren't a day job -- we're a family, we form emotional attachments to our teammates --!" "Too emotional??" she hissed, narrowing her eyes as she looked down at him from a few feet up in the air. She was several inches taller than him even on the ground, and being in the air really accented the size difference between the two of them. "This isn't about 'us', Kory!" he snapped back, and leaped up to a fire escape, coming to her level, a dozen feet above the alley floor. "This is about you! And family! And the fact that you're not alone in the world!" "I'm the last Tamaranean -- Don't talk to me about being alone!" she answered, her voice rising steadily as she started soaring upwards more rapidly, heading upwards from the alley and towards the open skies where she'd have more room to maneuver. "You've always been with someone! Batman's sidekick, my beloved, the Titans' leader, whatever it takes! You don't know what it's like to have your world destroyed and being left alone in the universe when --" "You're not alone!" he shouted as he leaped upwards and flipped around in fluid acrobatic movements to reach the rooftops before she did, crouching at the edge and looking downwards as she flew up from the alley and towards him. "That's what I'm trying to tell you! This. Isn't. About. Us! I'm not speaking as your ex-boyfriend, I'm speaking as a Titan, as your family! I'm asking you to stay at my place because you're a Titan, my friend, my family -- not because we had a relationship!" She wrinkled her nose as she slowly came to a stop, hovering in front of him and doubt briefly crossing her expression. "You're not doing this out of pity?" she asked carefully, with a warning look at him. "Not because what we had together makes you feel you have to?" "I swear, Kory", he answered. "You know the Titans always meant a lot to me. We'll always have each other in that sense. As friends and family. That'll never change, no matter what might've happened between us romantically..." She hesitated. So easily he spoke of their relationship in the past tense. "Fine", she said a bit coldly. "If that's what you want, I'll stay at your place. AS FAMILY." "Fine." "Fine." "Good." "Good." *** "I don't like sneaking around", she whispered. "Just a moment, it's..." CLICK "There", he said, sliding the window up and open, providing entrance into his apartment. He glanced up and down the shadowy Bludhaven alley below them to make sure they weren't being watched, then nodded to her as a go-ahead to get inside. She flew in the window, and landed in the middle of his living room, turning around to watch him slip in thru the window after her. If she hadn't been paying attention to him so much, she wouldn't even have noticed him entering. Even as it was, with all her senses concentrated on him, and knowing exactly where he was and where to look, somehow it still managed to seem to her like she wasn't noticing anyone. His stealth was impeccable. You could miss him even if your attention was straight on him. CLICK "Okay..." he said as he re-locked the window and then stepped away from it, his hands going to his midsection and searching out the dividing line between his spandex shirt and pants, starting to pull his shirt upwards before he realized this wasn't a few years ago. "Um..." he mumbled as he quickly tucked his shirt back in his pants and then looked around the apartment, trying to concentrate on noticing anything out of place so he wouldn't have to address the issue. "You always leave the lights on", she said slowly, changing the topic, just as un-eager to start down an argument about their ex-relationship. "And you're still as untidy as ever." She looked at a half-full bag of chips that had been spilled onto the couch like a little capsized boat. "Um -- I saw a bulletin in the news -- kind of left in a hurry", he explained uncomfortably, not realizing until now that there was a reason why he never invited women over to his place. "And Vic's robot messengers captured me while I was investigating -- haven't been home since..." "Where do you keep your vacuum cleaner?" she asked as she took off her coat and walked over to the hanger near the front door, leaving the coat there. "If I'm going to sleep on the couch, I'm going to clean it up a little first..." "Vacuum cleaner?" He blinked a few times, and then smiled sheepishly, spreading his hands. "Uh... We can go buy one tomorrow?" he suggested. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but couldn't resist a little smile. "I'm not going to go shopping for household appliances with you -- next we'll be picking curtains or wallpaper, or a crib for the nursery, if we start down that road..." she commented with dry humor. He remained silent for a while, and then walked over to the couch. "Look, I'll sleep on the couch, you go ahead and take the bed, okay?" "Knowing you", she just remarked, "the bed is in an even worse shape." She sighed and put her hands onto her hips. "Just tell me where I can find something to clean the couch with, Dick, and I'll take it from there..." "Umm...check that closet over there", he said, nodding across the room. "I think there's...*something* in --" KNOCK KNOCK "At four in the morning?" she lifted an eyebrow, turning her head towards the front door. "Get into the kitchen!" he told her, quickly pulling off his mask and running over to the couch, grabbing the bathrobe that was lying crumpled there, and started pulling it over his Nightwing costume. She hesitated a moment, but then nodded, realizing that if she, a Titan, the ex-girlfriend of the Titans' leader, was spotted in Dick Grayson's apartment, it would almost immediately reveal his secret identity as Nightwing. "All right --" she said with some reluctance, and stepped out of the living room. He quickly tied the sash around the bathrobe into a knot, and then dashed over to the front door, rattling with the locks a few moments before getting the door open. "Clancy!" "Yep", an Asian-featured woman standing in front of the door answered, brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes. "Sorry t' be botherin' ye at this late an hour, but I just heard ye were up from th' footsteps and figured I'd check if you were in th' need for any comp'ny --?" she asked with her Irish lilt. "Um..." he answered and glanced quickly over his shoulder into his apartment, and then looked back to his superintendent. "Oh", he said, lifting a hand to his temple and wincing slightly in pain. "No, not really -- I've got a killer headache and I just got up to find where my aspirin was..." "Oh", Clancy said, and remained silent for a while. "All right", she then nodded. "I'll be seein' ye around then -- we still on for that date Friday night?" CLUNK "What was that?" Clancy asked, trying to look over Dick's shoulder into the apartment. "Sounds like something fell..." "It was just a cat." "A cat?" "Definitely not a rat." "I didn't know you had a cat." "It's not mine, just visiting -- a favor to my friend Matt." "Matt?" "He's very fat, and often wears a hat. I wouldn't have taken in the cat, but Matt's on a trip to Angkor Wat, and, well, he needed someone to take care of the feline brat." "Oh", she smiled. "But it's a favor, I don't get any dough." He nodded with a serious expression. "I see", she commented, restraining a wider smile. "All right. I'll see y' on Friday night, then." She wiggled her fingers a bit in a wave good-bye, and then turned around, heading down the hallway towards the stairs leading down towards the ground floor. He quickly closed the door, and then leaned his back against it, closing his eyes and letting out a shuddering sigh of relief. "Drat." A few heartbeats passed, before Kory emerged from the kitchen, and let her eyes rest on him. "I'm sorry", she said quietly. "I didn't mean to cause problems between you and your girlfriend..." "...she's not my girlfriend", he answered after a brief moment of hesitation. He inhaled deeply, and then pushed himself off the door. "What was that sound?" "I...uh, tripped", she answered quietly. "I'm sorry for the trouble. I didn't break anything..." "I didn't think so. You're not very fragile", he smiled as he walked over to a closet and started pulling out some sheets and pillows and blankets. "Hmp", she wrinkled her nose as she stepped over to take the bedclothes and moved over to place them down onto the table beside the couch. "I *meant* I didn't break any of your things --" "I know", he smiled and then stretched slightly, extending his arms towards the ceiling and yawning widely. "I need some sleep -- I haven't managed to get any in three days... Can you manage everything by yourself?" "Yes", she answered with a determined nod. "Go to sleep, Dick. The Titans get back together for one adventure and you're working yourself to death again..." "I wouldn't go that far -- maybe a mild coma", he smiled as he headed for the bedroom door. "You're sure you --" "I CAN HANDLE EVERYTHING", she told him with a chastising smile. "Go sleep." "Yes, mom", he smiled and pulled his black spandex top over his head as he stepped into the bedroom and closed the door behind him, a barrier erected between the two of them. There were ruffling sounds of his getting undressed that grated on her ears, feeling so familiar and slapping her so clearly in the face with the current lack of relationship between them. She hardened her expression, and cleaned out the couch, then started spreading the bedclothes onto it. *** Half an hour later, the bedroom door opened silently. She peeked in thru the crack, her large bush of hair scuffling slightly against the door. Her eyes couldn't help but go to the bed where he slept, eyes closed, his chest rising and falling underneath the covers he had pulled over his lean body. She could see his left foot sticking out underneath the covers, and wanted to go over and pull the covers down a bit to cover the foot. She was out of line as it was. Her fingers crept over to the excuse for her peeking in. They ran over the light switch, preparing to flick it to the 'off' position. "Good night, Dick", her lips whispered. CLICK