"Prick"
"Bitch"
"Jerk"
"Whore!"
"Asshole!"
"Eh--Witch!"
"Oh yeah, Robin, real original. You are the most pompous prick to ever
walk the face of the earth."
"Devil Spawn!" He cried with conviction, pointing to the Chakra
mounted on her forehead. The fevered color that had risen in Raven's
cheeks blanched a sickening white.
"You..." She looked at him in absolute disbelief. "How dare you!"
The smugness returned to his face, as Robin turned his head high,
waiting for her to give up.
"Come on, Raven."
A new, vicious hue flew to Raven's lips as they parted dangerously.
"You know, Robin. I know why you do this...I know why you always have
to be right, why you always have to be the best. But you'll never be
good enough for him Robin. You know deep down that Batman doesn't want
you back. He doesn't need you, and he never will."
She turned her back on him, smiling contently as she awaited his next
attack. Raven knew that the one weak spot Robin had was his past with
Batman, and exploitation was her specialty.
"You know, you're really no better than any of the other Robins,
aren't you? I mean, you just couldn't take living in the shadow of
Batman, could you? Always have to be the big shot. God damn, are you so
conceited that you can't even see your own short comings? 'Cardiac,
you're Under Arrest'? What the hell? You can't even catch a decrepit
old fuck like Slade, no wonder Batman dumped you."
She stood, facing the window and watching the storm grow outside the tower.
Raven smirked, as the churning clouds flickered with electricity and
waited for the Boy Wonder to defend himself.
A moment of silence passed.
Followed by another.
Raven's smile faltered, it wasn't like him to take that kind of abuse.
The anger she had felt toward Robin began to recede as she realized
what she had said, leaving her with a strange guilt.
"Robin?" She turned around slowly, expecting him to strike her.
But he stood in the shadow, sharp shoulders hung loose and quivering
while his head bowed obscuring his eyes.
The only thing Raven could think of was how small he looked with his
arms wrapped around his chest.
A hitched breath broke the silence.
"R-Robin...I'm sorry...That was too far, I know I just-- You pushed me, and I--"
She reached out, trying to place her hand on his shoulder, stumbling
over her words.
Robin turned, sliding out of reach, his hands covering his face. A
muffled word slipping through his shaking hands.
"Why?"
Raven looked away, though she was no longer bound to suppress her
emotions, she still denied them.
"Why what, Robin?"
He looked up, his face was pained as she had never seen before.
"Why am I never good enough...Everything is the same, I'm never good
enough, I'll never be good enough!" His voice cracked as he became
hysteric.
"No matter what I do, it always ends up the same way. Why does
everyone have to suffer for me? I can change everything, be someone
else, but I always hurt the people I love. I don't want to hurt you,
I just want to, I want--to--"
Whatever else the boy said was lost as his words slurred and broken by
his tears.
Raven stood, shocked to stillness by his tears.
"Robin...I...I never knew, I--"
She could find no more words of comfort for him and elapsed into a
pained silence as she watched him sink to the floor.
Raven slowly sat, closer to the wall then Robin, her hood pulled to
cover her shame.
Time passed incomprehensibly, and Raven found herself drifting into her
thoughts as she tried to escape what she had done.
"Raven?"
She jerked back into the present, alarmed at the sudden vastness of
the room. Robin stood by the door, leaning casually on his shoulder
and averting her eyes. She could just see his outline as the light
from the storm crept in the far window.
"Uh...Yes?"
"I'm sorry..."
"No, Robin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...I just...I..."
"No Raven," He paused, a long sigh escaping his lips as he stepped out
of the shadow.
His face...The mask was gone.
"Robin, your--" Raven pulled her hood over her eyes, Robin had never
shown any of the Titans his eyes.
"Please...Please don't look away...Raven..." He feet appeared at the
top of her vision line, she clenched her eyes shut, determined not to
see his eyes.
Robin kneeled before her, pulling the hood away from her face.
"I need you to see me, Raven...I need you to see me." His hands fell
to her shoulders, she could feel his utter weakness seeping into her,
draining her resolve.
"Robin...Please, don't make me do this, I can't take this away from you."
"Raven...Listen...You know what I am... You're the only one. Do you
understand?" His hands wrapped around hers, they were cold as ice. She
shivered.
"I've known you longer than any of the other Titans...You've always
been there, and I need you to see me. You know what it is like to hold
back, you know what its like to sacrifice everything. I'm weak,
Raven...I can't do this on my own anymore..."
She opened her eyes, steadying her gaze at their hands.
Robin leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers and tilting
her head back so their eyes met.
Gray. Two almond shaped, gray eyes.
All the sadness, all the pain, all the anger that his mask had hidden
flickered back and forth, searching for solace.
Robin's arms wrapped around her, his head falling into the crevasse of
her neck. She could smell the faint odor of sweat and blood in his
hair as she leaned against the wall, stretching her legs out to the
side.
Lightning struck across the sky, signaling the beginning of the
midnight storm. The trickle of rain against the window panels filled
the silence that had only been broken by Robin's hitching breath. He
pressed the side of head against her chest, eyes sliding shut. Her
heart...he could hear it pulsing softly in his ear. Her hand smoothed
the back of his hair as his grip loosened in sleep.
Robin looked so small, so young as his head settled in her lap, eyes
moving sluggishly under closed lids.
Raven smiled. For all his walls and barriers, he was no more grown up
than any of them. She tilted her head against the wall, watching the
ceiling.
She knew that their time had to draw to a close, and it would be
easier to leave him if he were asleep.
"Azarath, metrion, zy--" Her whispered words were caught as Robin stirred.
"Please...Don't go...I don't want to be alone tonight..." A tear
tumbled over the bridge of his nose, landing on her thigh.
"Alright, Robin...I promise..."
R&R?