Authors Note: I wrote this a while back and decided to type it up and post it today for some reason. Anyway, here it is. This is a One-Shot so yeah….. If you are reading some of my other stories and want to know what's going on, I swear I will update them but I'm busy and frankly not feeling very inspired at the moment. Please be patient. Also, yeah this is a sort of a song fic but not really. I know there are a lot of them out there, and I wanted to try writing one. So yeah…. Read On!
The team coughed dust out of their lungs from the recently demolished building. It had been a simple midnight recon mission that had quickly turned sour when Sportsmaster and Cheshire turned up. Long story short the warehouse had exploded, trapping the team under its remains.
Aqualad and Superboy groaned as they pushed the support beams and pieces of the concrete walls away to reveal a small enclosed clearing under the 100 ton pile that was the rest of the support beams and concrete pieces. It was dimly lit by a sparkling electrical wire. They pulled Kid Flash, Artemis, and Miss Martian out of the rubble near them, examining them to reveal minor bruises, cuts and sprains.
"Wait!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "Where's Robin?"
Panicked, the team began hysterically searching for the youngest, who had been more than a little ways ahead of the team when the building fell. After a few precious minutes of searching Artemis gasped. The team ran over to see what had caught her attention. After much digging, Artemis had uncovered one of Robin's very still boots.
Kid Flash sunk to his knees as Superboy, Aqualad, and Miss M maneuvered the rubble to reveal Robin's very still and very broken body. There was a long bleeding gash along his forehead and a few deep cuts with fragments still in them. In the case of his left arm, a piece of steel piping had pierced straight through the limb. His right ankle was twisted the wrong way and his ribs looked like they had almost caved in with the warehouse. Overall he looked like one of Gotham's murder victims.
"Is he…" Artemis started off but cut off unable to finish.
"He's alive." Kalder confirmed gravely. "But barely."
With that Wally speed over and gently cradled his friend to his chest before sinking to the ground again, holding his buddy on his lap to try to prevent infection. A few tense moments later a loud hacking noise came from the youngest as he woke up coughing up blood. The other teen's hearts sank as they realized that the little bird was bleeding internally. Once the bird finished he leaned back against his best friend's chest unconsciously snuggling in closer as he looked around at the worried faces.
"H-hey guys. Wh-what's wrong?" He asked trying to sit up before being pushed back down.
"Are you okay?" Aqualad asked the youngest.
"Y-yyeah, why w-wouldn't I bb-ee? " the bird gasped out before pausing. "M'tired." He slurred.
"Don't go to sleep. Try to stay awake." Kid Flash told him quickly.
"Ok. It hurts." The bird weakly croaked.
"I know. You'll be okay though. Bat's will find you and take you back to the cave. Just stay with me a little longer." Wally comforted the injured bird.
"They're always five minutes late Wally." Robin mumbled weakly.
Kid Flash lightly tapped him on the nose. "Not this time. They'll be here." He promised running his hands through Robin's sweaty and blood soaked hair.
The team kept silent, watching the two brothers interact together. They were all shocked at how quiet and still the two were and how careful Kid Flash was around Robin. Another heart-wrenching cough disturbed their thoughts. KF's suit had a new blood stain. The weak lighting dimmed further as the electrical wire began to run out of power.
"Wally, I'm really tired and everything's going fuzzy. I'm scared! What's going on?" The bird whined before struggling to see what everyone else was staring at.
The speedster's heart broke hearing the pure panic in his best friend's voice. "Don't you dare die on me Rob. You hear me? You'll be fine."
"No I won't." The bird gasped out. Megan started crying and Kalder, Conner, and Artemis bowed their heads at the confession. "I can't feel anything anymore. What happened? Can you tell Bats-"
"No." Wally growled out, cutting the bird off. "I won't tell him anything because you will when he gets here. Don't you dare let go."
"Wally!" The bird cried out before another coughing fit disturbed him, making him curl into a ball on his friends lap.
"Shh Rob. It's okay; just keep your head up." Wally said biting back tears as he rubbed his best friends back trying to provide some comfort.
"Wally?" Robin asked timidly.
"Yeah dude?" Wally answered, knowing it could be the last thing his buddy could ever say if the League didn't show up soon.
"Could you sing something? It's too quiet." Robin asked before once again leaning against the warm chest exhausted.
The team exchanged glances before Wally nodded. "Sure buddy. What do you want to hear?"
Robin thought about it for a moment. "I don't care. Anything will do. Just make the silence go away."
"Okay buddy. One song coming up." Wally said smiling weakly before clearing his throat and beginning.
"Here I am, this is me."
"I come into this world so wild and free."
"Here I am, so young and strong."
"Right here in the place where I belong."
Robin started shivering on Wally's stomach, letting one of his closest friends wrap his arms around him. The light flickered out for a moment before coming back on. The team started crying. Wally took a deep breath before continuing.
"It's a new world, it's a new start."
"It's a life with the beating of a young heart."
"It's a new day, in a new land,"
"And it's waiting for me."
"Here I am."
Robin stopped shaking and his body relaxed. Slowly his breathing came to a halt. Tears dripped down the speedsters face but nonetheless he continued the song for his best friend.
"Oh, it's a new world, it's a new start."
"It's a life with the beating of a young heart."
"It's a new day, in a new land,"
"And it's waiting for me."
"Here I am."
Once finished, Wally carefully pried off his best friends mask before closing his unique glassy blue eyes for the last time. The light flickered once more, and then died.
"I can't hear his heart." Connor said slowly, staring at the young 13 year olds body.
"Darn it!" Artemis screamed before slamming her fist into the pipe next to her, flinching when more dust fell.
Megan bawled quietly in a corner while Kalder watched everything with sad eyes before looking away, unable to stand the looks of defeat and hopelessness on his team mates faces.
Five minutes later a groan came from the ceiling, and a beam was removed, letting in a ray of sunlight. "I told you they were coming Rob." Wally gasped to his friend's lifeless body.
Soon another pipe was removed, and then another, and then some concrete. Pretty soon a gap was made, and Wonder Woman flew in. "Are you kids alright?" She asked before catching sight of Kid Flash who was still holding the body. "Oh Hera." She gasped out before looking up to the opening. "Quick, Medic! Batman! Superman! Help! Quick! Medic!"
"What's the problem?" Superman asked before catching sight of Robin. "Batman!" he shouted.
The Dark Knight appeared. His steady pace faltered when he saw his partner and he ran forward. After taking him from Wally with uncharacteristic gentleness, a heartbroken cry tore through his lips when he realized his son was dead.
"Bruce, I'm so sorry." Wonder Woman said.
The rest of the team's mentors entered and walked to their respective protégés.
Flash reached the bawling Kid Flash and gave him a hug. "I'm so sorry kid, so so sorry."
The remaining young heroes were led gently out of their prison. Robin was carried out on a stretcher before being carefully covered by a white sheet. The young boy was so small it had to be folded in half before it could be wrapped around him.
All of a sudden Red Arrow ran up in a panic. "Where are they?" He all but screamed before spotting Wally and sweeping him up into a big hug. "Dude, I am so glad you're ok. I thought I lost you guys. The leagues been looking for you guys for hours." He released Wally when he started sobbing uncontrollably. "Bro what's wrong?" He glanced at the sadly watching heroes. "Where's Robin?" He glanced around again like his other little bro might be hiding. Wally started bawling.
"Roy." Green Arrow said walking over from Artemis's side. The league looked down at the ground, most of them starting to cry themselves.
"No." Red Arrow said. "No. He's not dead. He's not." He backed up before sinking to his knees. "No no no no no." He started sobbing as he saw the tiny body wrapped up in the sheet. "He was my brother!" He sobbed hysterically. Wally just cried as he sank down next to his remaining brother.
Batman watched the seen sadly, mourning the loss of his oldest son. Black Canary stepped up next to him. "Bruce, I cannot even pretend to imagine what your feeling right now, but if you ever need to talk about it-"
The Dark Knight cut her off. "How am I supposed to tell them? Jason? He'll be crushed. That's his oldest brother who just died. Barbra? Her partner in crime just went off on a mission that he never came back from. Timmy? He's finally getting used to the manor; he does not need another death hanging over his shoulders. Alfred? He's known the boy for 5 years, same as Selina. How are you supposed to tell someone something like this?"
"I don't know." Black Canary told him before placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know."
The next day the world had a moment of silence for the fallen bird. The Justice League gave a speech about the little bird and how he never stopped fighting. A small shrine was set up outside the Hall of Justice and people across the world put small messages and pictures on it. Later that night the Joker escaped the asylum and burnt it to the ground.
The day after that it was raining in Gotham and while the rest of the world had already begun to move on, this crime filled city did not and were still morning the loss of their protector. A mural was painted on the sidewalks outside of each school, exhibiting a flying robin in front of a large black uppercase R with a canary yellow background.
Later that same day a small group wore black outside of a freshly dug grave in the cemetery. In between John and Mary Grayson, their son was laid to rest. Richard's tombstone had two hand prints from his brothers at the top and a bird hand carved by his female counterpart near the bottom. The words 'Here lies Richard Grayson. May he forever be whelmed,' were engraved. Laid on the freshly dug dirt were 13 red and gold roses.
As the mourners walked away a few glanced back. One was a martian, one was an atlantean, one was a bat, another was a cat, two were younger brothers, two were older brothers, and another was a girl whose heart was just ripped out.
Authors Note: So yeah, kind of depressing. Anyways please let me know what you thought. For those of you who watch movies, let me know which one you thought the song was from. Also, did anyone catch the symbolism? Let me know what symbolized where. Read and Review Please!
R&R!
R&R!
R&R!