TT - Troubled Hearts SIX

Read “Troubled Mind” chapter six before reading this one.
Troubled Hearts
—The Parting—

“So,” Kori said as she sat next to Dick on the couch, “how are things going between you and Rachel?”  Dick thought there might be some hidden meaning behind her question at first.  However, once he looked into her innocent green eyes, he realized there was no secret agenda in her inquiry.  Why then did she ask?  Was she still in love with him?  He could not seem to wrap his mind around the idea that she was sincerely concerned or even wishing them well.

“I’m sorry, Star,” he told her as he rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand.  “I—I just don’t know right now.  Things are complicated and I don’t think it is wise to get close to these people.  They aren’t real.”  He was about to say more, but Kori’s eyes watered and he saw her start to shed some tears.  “Star?”  He was about to place his stray hand on her shoulder, but she stood up before he could.  More tears were freely running down her slightly red cheeks now.

“He’s real to me!”  She raised her voice as many emotions were tumbling through her.  Desperation.  Hope.  Insecurity.  Attachment.  Dick had seen her feel sad, hurt, enraged, and disappointed, but nothing like this.  What was with this dream world that messed with their emotions so?  Before he could say another word, she ran out of the room and up to the bedroom she shared with her former teammate, Tara.

Dick’s eyes opened wide.  Who in this world was she talking about?

—

Tara rubbed her friend’s back as she emptied out all her tears.  “I do not,” Kori swallowed, “no, I cannot believe him!” Kori said through her sobs.  “I finally found my ‘one’.  Surely, Robin is wrong.  I do not want him to be a fake!”

So that was the cause of all her suffering.  Roy Harper.

However, it was true what Dick said.  This was a dream.  Then, why did it feel so real?  Was this world designed to break them down?  Why did it have to tear their hopes and desires to shreds?

One thing was for certain though.  The emotions they were experiencing in this ‘world’ were true.  It was so real, it felt almost tangible.  Like they could reach out and touch it.  They could only brace themselves for what would next.

—

Kori had calmed down over the course of the morning.  She had cried until she could not produce any more tears.  It had helped, but only so much.  It was hard to rush things such as this.  But, if she came to terms with what was happening, with the truth, she would be able to cope, right?

Dick had hoped so.  However, just when he thought he had achieved some sort of sanity in this roller coaster of emotions, something had to mess it all up.  And it all began with the ringing of their doorbell.

Dick looked around silently.  No one seemed to be downstairs at the time.  Should he answer the door?  Could it possibly be Slade hiding behind it, waiting for them to lower their guard enough to strike?  There was so much they didn’t know about this crazy world.

The doorbell rang again.

“He’s here!”  Rachel said excitedly as she nearly flew down the stairs to the front door.  She opened the door wide with an enthusiastic smile on her face.  She looked so happy. . .

Dick didn’t know why, but for a moment he felt a twinge of some negative emotion he didn’t quite recognize flare in his heart.  So he walked over to the front door to see who possibly could make Rachel so ecstatic.  When he saw the man standing on the doormat, he about fell over from shock.

Dick recognized the person at the door immediately.  “Speedy?”  He asked.  Could there possibly be others here?  Or was it just another imposter?  As much as he wanted to, when Dick saw the redhead’s face ease into a smile so much like the archer would, he couldn’t seem to think of him as an ‘imposter’.  But, neither could he think of him as an ally.  He had to be cautious.

“Roy, it’s so good to see you again!”  Rachel gave him a big hug and then spotted Lian in her infant seat next to him.  “Oh, you brought Lian too!”  

“Uh, Rach?”  Roy asked.  “Do you mind if we actually got inside the house?”

Rachel chucked partially in embarrassment.  Still, she smiled so easily.  Richard could hardly believe that this was a form of Raven. No, he told himself, she’s not Raven and this man is not Speedy.  They are only fakes.  I need to remember that.

Rachel turned around and ushered Roy and his daughter Lian into the house.  But, in the meantime, she saw her husband’s face turned from confused to stoic; almost frigid.  She raised an eyebrow at his peculiar behavior. Just like Raven. . .

“C’mon, Dick.  Lighten up!”  She grabbed him by his elbow and also ushered him to the kitchen table.  Once there, Rachel stood over Lian’s infant seat.  “She’s gotten so much bigger than the last time I saw her!”  She started playing with her.  Her face was so relaxed and at ease with the little girl.

Roy, on the other hand, looked perplexed.  “It’s only been a week or so since I was last here.”  His brow furrowed.  What was going on?

A week. . . Rachel thought. A week ago I was ‘gone’ and this Dick wasn’t here either.  Rachel and her husband exchanged a look of worriment.  Neither of them would remember anything from then.  

Roy sat down at the table.  Dick and Rachel soon followed suit at his gesture.  Roy put his hand on Rachel’s before speaking.  He took a deep breath before opening his mouth in concern.  “Tell me, is ‘everything’ better or worse?”

Again, the couple shared a look.  What should they tell him?  He was one of Rachel’s closest friends and he seemed to know at least a little about their predicament.  “I don’t know what to tell you, Roy.  I hardly know what is going on myself.”

“So, you’re better?”  Roy looked hopeful but then thought about the implications of Rachel being ‘better’.  Wouldn’t that also mean that she could one day be gone too?  His face fell.

Rachel looked down before facing Roy.  “I don’t know if I would call it ‘better’.”  Rachel fidgeted.  “It’s just that I’m me again.”

Roy’s eyes grew wide in shock.  He didn’t know what he was expecting when Rachel texted him the previous day to come over.  He wasn’t sure if he should be happy for her or saddened for himself.

Light footsteps were heard on the stairs and the three of them looked to the hallway to see who it was.  Roy’s face lightened up in excitement at the sight of Kori.  In exchange, Kori’s eyes widened in delight and relief. He’s here. My Roy is here.

Kori suddenly felt nervous.  He was staring at her like she might vanish if he took his eyes off of her for even a moment.  She shyly played with her long red hair.  “Hey,” Roy said after a moment of silence.  “I missed you.”  He stood up from the chair and walked over to her.  He was standing by her silently before he embraced her gently.

Soon she wrapped her arms around him too.  She felt so safe and warm with him.  How could such a powerful and comforting feeling such as this be artificial?  “I missed you too,” she admitted simply as she leaned into his strong form and smiled.

Richard gave his wife a very perplexed look while she glanced at the couple in front of her in shock.  “Um, did something transpire while I was ‘gone’?”  Rachel asked curiously.

Kori looked away from the man in whose arms she was being held in.  “A wonderful thing!”  She said brightly, yet with challenging eyes directed at her ex-boyfriend in the real world.  “Something so right I would not wish to exchange it with anything else.”  After a meaningful glance at Richard, Kori stepped back from the embrace.  She interlocked her hand with Roy’s instead.  “Did you bring Lian?”  She asked him with a kind, sincere smile that took his breath away.

“Of course,” he smiled back.  However, he had noticed the look between Kori and Richard.  What was going on there?  “But first, one matter of business.  Richard,” Roy forced him to make eye contact before speaking again.  “Are you ‘gone’ now?”

Richard’s eyes grew a bit wider.  “How could you tell?”

“I’m more perceptive than you take me for,” he said steadfastly.  “Your mannerisms are completely different.  And, you aren’t open.  You’re just like that other Rachel.  I think she called herself ‘Raven’.”  Roy turned back from talking to Richard to the redhead next to him.  “Kori, you aren’t going to go away, are you?”  He squeezed her hand as he spoke.  “I don’t want to be left behind again.”  His eyes became sad and intense.  “I don’t want you to leave me.”

Kori blinked twice and then gave a wholehearted smile.  “I won’t ever leave you, Roy.”  Then she leaned up and gave him a quick, but meaningful kiss.  They gazed into each other’s eyes for a good long moment.  However, the moment was broken soon thereafter.

“Star, we need to talk.”  Richard said mildly, but decidedly.  “Where’s a good place?”

Roy raised a brow and realized there was more drama going on than he initially thought.  “There’s a park down the block a bit to the right.  You’ll be able to have some privacy there,” he replied.

“Thanks.”  Richard grasped Kori’s free hand and tugged gently so she would come with him.  At first she resisted.  But then Roy nodded his head and told her, “It’s okay.  You should go.”  She let go of Roy’s hand and followed her ex-boyfriend out the front door.  They went down the block to the exact park where she had discovered her true feelings not too long ago.

As soon as they got to the swings at the playground, Richard let go of her hand and faced her.  “Star, listen to me.”  He told her in a firm, but not harsh tone.  “I told you we shouldn’t get close to these people.  They will only become a hinder us from going back home.  To our real home.”

Kori sat down on the same swing she was on when she found out how truly not alone she really was.  Roy helped her realize so much.  She finally came to her decision.  “If it means I can be loved, I do not wish to go back.”  She told Richard throwing him off completely.

“What do you mean?  What about your duty to the city?”  He asked her unbelievingly.  

However, she responded with a burning fire in her eyes.  “No, what about my duty to my heart!  I am tired of always being second best.”  She stood up so she was eye-to-eye with him.  “Here, in this world, I can be whoever I want.  There are no expectations to be met.  I can be another me that I have only dreamed about.”  She was gesturing emphatically.  

By the time she finished her little rant, Richard could only say, “That’s exactly it, Star.  This is a dream!”  Kori’s eyes hardened at his tone and words.  “None of it’s real.  This Roy Harper is nothing like the real one.”  Her eyes widened at his last sentence.  It intrigued her.  

“Wait, what do you mean ‘real one’?”  She could barely form the words in any sort of logical manner.  It was just so mind-boggling.  Could there really be a Roy Harper back ‘home’?  Could her ‘one’ still be waiting for her?  Her mind and heart were conflicted.  Where did they stand really?  The possibility seemed lukewarm.  There were no absolutes.  It wasn’t hot, nor was it cold.  She couldn’t even tell if she wanted it to be one or the other.  It felt as if she was numb; not knowing what she was truly feeling at the time.  Thoughts were streaming through her mind like bullets in a Bruce Willis movie.

Richard could see her conflicted spirit.  He gently put his hand on her shoulder, alerting her to his presence once more.  “Roy Harper lives in Steel City.  You would know him as ‘Speedy’.”

“Roy is Speedy?”  She asked skeptically.  How could these polar opposites be one and the same?  Roy was kind, wise, caring, and compassionate.  Speedy, on the other hand, was egotistical, narcissistic, and self-absorbed.  He didn’t seem to have the depth of personality that this Roy had, nor the beauty.  How could this possibly be?

“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.  This Roy is merely a figment of the real one.  I’m sorry, but you have to believe me.  Let him go. . .”  

Kori began wavering on her feet as he spoke.  It was almost as if she was unsteady.  Was she going to faint from this revelation?  She held her hand to her head as she stumbled.  Her eyes became unfocused and hazy.  Richard, scared for her, rushed over to wrap his arms around her.  It was just in time.  She collapsed at that moment.

Richard began to lose his steadiness when she wouldn’t wake up or respond when he called her name.  Not knowing what else to do, he picked her up bridal style and walked back to the house.  He didn’t know what he would say to those in the house.  Whatever it might be, it wouldn’t be enough.

—

Richard rang the doorbell.  It would be too hard to open the front door with a tall unconscious girl in his arms, so he didn’t even try.  Rachel came to the door a few moments later.  Once she opened it and looked out, she panicked.  “Oh my God!  Richard, what happened?”

At that outburst of excitement, Roy was a footstep behind her almost immediately.  He saw the girl he might just be falling in love with draped in his supposed friend’s arms.  “What did you do to her?!”  He couldn’t stay calm any longer.

“I’m sorry,” Richard said helplessly.  “She just passed out when we were talking.  I don’t know what is going on.”

“You idiot!”  Roy snapped.  “I know what Vic said.  Only bad things happen when you guys sleep.” She told me she wouldn’t leave me. . .  She promised!

“You two, shut up and get her to the couch.”  Rachel’s voice was chilling to say the least.  It shook the two guys out of an ensuing argument.  “She might as well be comfortable.”  She mumbled as she led Richard to the couch in the living room.  As soon as he laid her down gently, Rachel covered her with a blanket like she was tucking a child into bed.

Even though tensions were still high, Rachel couldn’t help but say, “Well, I guess now is a bad time to bring out the whole point of me bringing us together.”

“Probably,” both Roy and Richard recited in unison.  They checked her temperature and pulse.  It seemed as if she was merely in a deep sleep.  They were still worried.  What would happen to her?  Would she still be the same?  Would she be someone different when she woke up?

“Well, my news doesn’t even compare with what is happening in my living room, so I might as well spill.”  She shrugged and took a shaky breath in and out.  This caused both men in the room to look away from the unconscious girl on the couch over to Rachel.  Roy had always known Rachel to be calm and composed.  Now, she was anything but.  “I know I should be excited, but with all this commotion going on. . .  I don’t quite know how to take the news.”

“Rach, tell us,” Roy told her, “What has been going on?  You aren’t yourself.   Please, talk to us.  We’ll understand.  I promise.”

“Can you really promise that?  I hardly know what to think myself.”

“It’s not bad news, is it?”  Roy asked, but Rachel just walked into the kitchen and gestured for the two men to follow her to the table.

“I’m not quite sure anymore.  But I did want the two of you to know first.”  Suspense ran high as she composed herself by long, but steady breaths.  She took turns looking them both in the eyes and then grasped their hands in hers.  She gave a small, shy smile before saying what she looked forward to and yet shuddered to speak.  

“Richard,” she squeezed his hand, “I’m pregnant.”

This piece of info seemed to temporarily pause their situation with her roommate passed out on the living room couch.  “That’s wonderful, Rach!  Congrats!”  Roy stood up with pride and pure unadulterated joy for her.  He gave her a big bear hug and kissed her on both cheeks.  “I know it is what you’ve always wanted,” he calmed down a bit.  “You’ve been trying for a while.  I wish all of your hopes and dreams are fulfilled in this child.  You’ve earned it.”

After Rachel’s and Roy’s rejoicing, Tara went out from her hiding place and walked towards the couch.  “Star,” she started as she kneeled before her, “wherever you go from here, please, be happy.  I don’t want you to end up being the damsel in distress like I was.  I know it isn’t your style.  Please, just, just find your way home.”  Tara played with Kori’s soft red hair for a few moments.  “And, if you could, please free me too.  I know I have no home with the Titans, but I hope that I’ll be able to find one somewhere. . . Well, somewhere away from here.  Please, my friend.  Don’t let me cry anymore.”  Tara closed her eyes in peace.  “Please, if possible, help me find happiness.”  Then she became content and said a final prayer unknowing whether or not it would be heard.  “I enjoyed being your roommate.  We both had some trying times, but we always pulled ourselves together.  It was good to have a friend like you.  If I ever get back to the real world, would you be my friend again?”

—Fin—