Chapter Text
“Do you think I’m making the right decision?” Kory brushed a curl out of her face, meeting Donna’s eyes in the mirror. She never doubted Dick’s love. Not on Tamaran and not now but there was something in her that wasn’t sure of this day.
“I don’t know, Kory.” Donna's eyes cut away from the mirror. “You won’t know until you walk down the aisle.”
_______
Dick’s fingers scrabbled at the bow tie, it seemed to cinch tighter with each minute it was around his neck. Was he sweating? Maybe they shouldn’t have planned for an outside wedding but he knew a church wouldn’t have made him any less nervous (it would have made him more nervous and they all knew it).
A hand wrapped around his wrist and gently pulled it down from where he was still fiddling with the bow tie. He glanced up to meet Wally’s eyes - a sea of calm when opposed to Dick's. Dick let his hand drop to his side, trying to breathe was useless anyway.
“She’ll come down the aisle, Dick, don’t worry about it.”
He let out a sigh. “Are you sure about that, Wally?”
“Just trust me on me this one.”
_______
“Just one more button, then we get your veil and we walk you down the aisle.” Donna’s deft fingers made quick work of the dress while Kory stood, entranced by the gleaming white her figure was draped in.
“Did I ever tell you, we only wear white on Tamaran when we mourn?” Memories bubbled to the surface; white on the anniversary of the day her grandmother had been taken, white on the anniversary of her grandfather’s death, white when she mourned for her mother’s parents, the family she hand’t known. “I never realized that it meant something different here.”
Donna’s hand came to rest on Kory’s shoulder, the gentle pressure pulling her out of her reverie.
“Honey – are you going to be okay?” Her blue eyes had been filled with concern so often during their friendship that this wasn’t new to either of them. Donna had been like a sister to her, someone who gave her advice when she was unsure of herself, someone who was always a shoulder to cry on when she needed it, someone who had guided her through life on Earth all these years. It seemed like she was always worried over the woman who had made her home on a planet that was different from anything she had ever known.
Kory’s lips turned up softly, hopeful. “My life is changing, Donna. Everything is going to be different.” She had given up hope of returning to Tamaran after Karras' death. She had given in to so much of Earth. She had changed, she was of Earth now as much as she was of Tamaran and she would move forward as the mix of the two. She would hold to her traditions but she would move forward in her new life, unafraid. She stared down at the bracelet that was tucked under the fabric of her sleeve, something her mother had tucked into her hand the last time she had seen her. It was an anchor to her past as she moved into her future. When she looked up at herself again, she smiled at herself with her teeth, her eyes gleaming with hope.
“White doesn’t have to mean anything to me anymore, Donna. I get to make my own decisions from now on.”
_______
The organ started up but Dick didn't hear it. His eyes were trained on the archway Kory was supposed to walk through. He was focused on her. Small meditation had soothed his frayed nerves, he was ready to watch her walk down the aisle but he was still afraid she wouldn't walk down it.
And then - there she was. Swathed in white, her hands cradling her bouquet, the garland of flowers nestled in her curls; she looked more the princess to him now than she ever had. Their eyes met and Kory’s lips spread into a shy smile to match Dick’s grin. Vic had her left arm, Donna her right and together they brought her to the altar. Two of her best friends, carrying her into the newest chapter of her life.
They wouldn’t want it any other way.
Donna let go of Kory first, laying a kiss on her cheek and taking her place as maid of honor. Vic let go last, poking a finger at Dick’s chest on his way to sit down. “You better take care of her, Shortpants.” The unspoken ‘she’s the best a jerk like you could hope for’ hung in the air between them before they broke the tension with a hug. Vic pulled away and pointed again but with a smile on his face. “You know it’s true.”
He did.
Kory watched them, blowing a kiss at Vic when he turned back to look at her.
Then finally, she turned to him and slid her arm through his and waited. Dick let his other hand rest on her arm.
The priest waited for the guests to quiet and gave a gentle smile. The worn creases next to his eyes crinkling as he looked both at the couple and all those that had come to support them.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” his soft voice carried over the wedding party. “I’d like to thank you for coming to the wedding of Dick Grayson and Kory Anders – I know that if they could take their eyes off of each other, they would tell you the same thing.” A ripple of laughter went through the audience as Kory blushed but Dick didn’t break his stare.
The priest continued, “I’m sure many of you have heard of the unconventional way these two met. A kiss before the first date,”
Vic mumbled somewhere in the crowd. “Not like Robbie stepped up to the plate.”
The priest shook his head, “That led to the wonderful wedding we are all gathered here for today.”
It was more than joyous or wonderful, it was a celebration of everything they had overcome to be here. Everything they had let go of to make this work. It was a celebration of everyone who had known they would make it (Donna) and it would hopefully last them the rest of their lives. Dick squeezed Kory's hand and she bumped him with her shoulder.
The rest of the speech was a blur to them. They said their ‘I do’s,’ Kory’s hand took hold of Dick’s to exchange rings, and they stared into one another's eyes.
Then a yell came from the wedding party just as their lips brushed and they each jumped back. That wasn't a shout of joy. It was a shout of fear Kory’s eyes went skyward, following the fingers and shouts of the rest of their party.
Dick spun around, following her gaze to where it had come to rest.
Raven. They had forgotten about Raven.
She was lounging in the air above the tree line. But it wasn’t Raven. It was her body but it wasn’t their friend - Trigon reincarnate was what she was now.
“I can’t believe this,” her voice curled through the air, low and smooth, brushing over ears like silk. “I wasn’t invited to my own best friend’s wedding.” A Cheshire smile had wound it’s way onto her face. She knew what she was doing to Kory, who looked ready to collapse onto her knees.
“I thought,” Kory’s tears balanced on her lashes, trembling as they refused to spill over. “I thought you were dead, Raven.”
Donna had already tugged Kory backwards, the little she could do without her powers, she did and Kory went willingly. Her hand covered her mouth now, trying to quell the sobs they knew would be coming at the view of their desecration of their friend's body. It was a perversion of everything they had known. Dick pulled a batarang from his pocket and in the short time since Raven had appeared out of thin air, the Titans had armed themselves. Roy had hidden a bow and arrow under his chair, Vic already held up his sonic canon, and even Tim had somehow managed to hide his costume under his suit. They had been ready for this, even if Kory hadn't been.
“All this for me?” Raven bared her teeth. “I’m so flattered, it seems I’m more important than I thought.”
Silence had fallen over the wedding. The only sounds were the whirring mechanics of a metal arm, a finger pulling a bowstring taught, and sound of a hand rubbing over the metal of a batarang. Time had slowed to nothing as they waited for someone to make the first move. No one panicked. The shouts had quieted and from surprise came anger.
When it came, no one knew how it had happened. Raven had been in the sky, her smile taunting them as they mimicked a statue garden, then she was falling – her chest a smoking mess of viscera and gore.
All eyes were on Raven as she fell but none were on Kory as she sank to her knees, a hand still raised to the sky as her tears spilled down her cheeks.
_______
“Dick, I’m sorry – I thought I had secured the perimeter, I kept running checks, I – I’m sorry.”
He’d never seen Tim this anxious. Stumbling over his words, unsure of himself, unsure of what was happening. Just like they all were right now.
“It’s okay, Tim. You can’t predict everything.” He finally looked up from his hands, weary eyes landing on Tim’s face. “It’s not your fault. We hadn’t thought Raven would be a threat.”
Tim nodded, unconvinced but unsure what to do. There wasn’t any protocol for this situation. He sat. There was nothing else to do.
Dick’s shoulders slumped. It completed his look. His undone tie hung down from a rumpled collar, the unbuttoned vest and shirt unrecognizable from what they had been a few hours before. There was nothing put together about him, not after what he had seen. By now, though, it was far from his mind. Kory had taken his complete focus. On her knees in the grass, her hands covering her mouth, tears dripping off of her chin.
That was the image he couldn’t get out of his mind.