It was impossible to see through the coils of thick white fog that had descended upon Gotham City. From his vantage point high in the thick oak tree, Robin could barely make out the path below him. Even the golden light from the lamp posts scattered throughout the park couldn't quite penetrate the pale clouds.
Robin barely suppressed an icy chill that wanted to skitter down his spine like a frozen spider. Even his long sleeved winter uniform couldn't keep out the cold that came with the eerie mist. It was the kind of cold that seeped into your skin and made your muscles tight and achey. It didn't help of course, that he'd been stuck in this tree for quite some time now, and his body was unbearably stiff.
His discomfort was so worth it though. How many thirteen year olds got to say that they were on a mission with Batman and Superman?
Robin couldn't stop the grin that formed on his face. Wally was going to be SO jealous. Then his grin was replaced with a small frown. So would Superboy. Clark had yet to make any effort to get to know Connor, and though the clone tried to hide it (very poorly, in Robin's opinion), the teenager was hurt. Robin knew if his friend heard that he'd been on a mission with Superman, he wouldn't take it well.
The teenager blew out a breath and risked a small glance at his wrist computer. Three twelve AM. If Superman was wrong about this, which Robin really hoped he wasn't, Batman was going to be pissed. Robin would be very disappointed.
It wasn't every day he got to hunt a banshee.
Siobhan McDougal had been her name, before she was dragged to the netherworld in a ritual gone wrong and returned as something definitely not human. Enhanced speed, superhuman strength, and a voice that could kill.
Technically she was Superman's problem, but her mission to retrieve a powerful occult book that had belonged to her father had brought her to Gotham, which of course made it Batman's problem. The Dark Knight had been reluctant to agree to the team up, even more reluctant to let Robin be involved, but time was of the essence, and the minutes they wasted arguing about the teen staying or making sure he got home safely were minutes they couldn't spare.
The Silver Banshee was deadly, and she had to be stopped. She'd already left a trail of nine bodies, and that was only in Gotham.
Not that Robin was going to have hardly anything to do with stopping her. His role was unsurprisingly small, and Batman had argued heavily against him doing even that much.
But here he was, stuck up in a tree, with a one strap pack slung across his back that contained the very book that the Banshee sought.
Robin adjusted the strap on his shoulder, wincing slightly. The occult book was heavier than most of his advanced textbooks for Gotham academy, and that was saying something. And he'd been sitting there for hours now. What was keeping the Silver Banshee so long?
Superman had assured them that she was drawn to the book, that once she was within a certain range, it would call to her like a homing beacon. And so they'd picked the center of Gotham City park to set their trap, knowing no civilians would be caught in the crossfire of what would undoubtedly be a battle of epic proportions.
I might even get a few shots in, Robin mused, if the Banshee would actually show up.
Radio silence, he reminded himself as his fingers twitched towards his ear piece. Batman had ordered complete silence until there was a sign of their quarry.
Robin was about to give into the urge to yawn when he heard it.
Immediately his spine stiffened, and every sense was on alert. His hand automatically went to the pack containing the book.
It was faint, but he could just make out the sound of a woman's voice humming. Was it his ears playing tricks on him, or was it her?
Slowly, steadily, the voice grew in volume, and he made out the first words of her song.
"Ho-van, Ho-van, Gorry og O,
I've lost my darling baby, O."
The chill that he'd kept at bay now shuddered down his spine with so much force he nearly gasped.
"I left my darling lying here,
A-lying here, a-lying here;
I left my darling lying here,
To go and gather berries."
Her voice was clear, flawless, one of the purest sounds he had ever heard, and it carried the eerie, haunting melody through the fog in perfectly tuned echoes. It was impossible to tell where it was coming from, impossible to tell how close she was. Robins heart began to beat more rapidly.
"Tell me you guys are hearing this," Robin raised a finger to his earpiece, barely whispering the words.
"Every word," came Superman's tense reply.
"Maintain your position. Any visual yet?" Batman's voice didn't betray any emotion, and he too, barely spoke above a soft growl.
"Negative."
"I found the brown otter's track,
The otter's track, the otter's track;
I found the brown otter's track,
But ne'er a trace of baby."
God that was creepy. Robin could hear the Scottish lilt tinting her voice, and his eyes bored into the heavy fog all around him for any trace of movement. Where was she? He fingered one of the batarangs on his belt, ready to fling the projectile and make his escape at a second's notice.
"I found the wee Robin's track,
The robin's track, the robin's track;
I found the wee robin's track,
But ne'er a trace of baby."
Oh shit.
Heart now thundering in his chest, Robin's head whipped back and forth, his skin prickling and hair raising at the awful feeling of wrongness all around him.
"Status now. Do you have visual?" Any trace of calm had vanished from Batman's voice.
"Negative," Robin repeated, one hand tightening around the strap across his chest.
"I found him hiding in the mist,
In the mist, in the mist;
I found him hiding in the mist,
For he had taken baby."
"Abort! Robin, get out of there now!"
Robin needed no urging. Heart in his throat, he whirled, ready to swing onto the nearest branch and somersault to the ground below.
A white skeletal face was inches from his own. Robin had a second to take in the lithe black and white body, the empty white eyes, and the pale hair that streamed down her back before the Silver Banshee opened her mouth and screamed.
Author's Note: I don't know if anyone still reads YJ fanfiction, but I had a dream the other night that inspired this story and I just had to write it. I don't own any of the characters, and I didnt make up the Silver Banshee. This story is written out, just needs to be edited, and I will be posting new chapters once a week until it is all finished. Hope you guys like it! I'd love to hear your thoughts!