Disclaimer: Why yes, I disclaim.

Dark Side of Night

It was just another normal night in Jump City. Robin was out on patrol, making sure all stayed quiet. He wasn't out there looking for criminal masterminds like the mercenary Slade or the elusive Red X, but rather making sure everyone made it home safely. Just something to get him out of the house, or rather tower that he lived in with his four other teammates.

Though the rest of the team wasn't too fond of Robin going off on his own patrols, he lived for it. It reminded him of being back in Gotham, only here, he get could do things the way he wanted, be his own hero without Daddy Bats to get in the way, telling him what to do. It also let him sort out his thoughts and get have some alone time, away from his team. At first, Robin had made a habit of sneaking out of the tower two or three nights a week and of course it wasn't long before the team found out and they weren't happy, to say the least. After some arguing and lots of discussion, it was agreed that he could go out, as long as he promised to call if anything more than a petty crime came up. Not wanting to give up his freedom, he made the promise and didn't intend to go back on that. At the moment he was sitting on thin ice with his team, between sneaking out and his infamous Red X incident. He had crossed a line he never should have, creating and becoming a thief to get the attention of a certain villain. His team had found out and he was just happy to still be on the team, let alone still leader. But thats a whole other story.

Robin sat perched on the ledge of a nearby building, only about three stories up. The night had so far been uneventful and peaceful. The air out was perfect, not too hot, not too chilly, with a hint of salt...perfect spring night on the coast. He had been out for three hours now and found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. No muggings, no fights or illegal dealings. Nothing. Perhaps he'd call it an early night and get some sleep for once. He'd wait one more hour, until midnight, to head back to the tower and get some rest.

Robin watched a small group of teenagers walking down the street, talking about some movie they had just seen. Laughing and enjoying each other's company. Seemingly, out of nowhere, a van pulled up beside the group as they all stopped and looked at it, abruptly ending they conversation they had been having. Robin watched closely, right hand laying on his grappling hook, bo staff in left, just in case he needed to be down there quickly.

"Yo, that's my dad! Katie, your coming with me right? We'll see the rest of you later," one of the boys said as he and Katie hopped into the van.

Robin relaxed, letting out the breath he had been holding, and watched the others turn the corner and disappear. Hopefully heading home, as it was a school night. He stood up, turning around to head back to where he had parked his bike, just a few blocks away.

He was almost there as he heard a gunshot break through the peaceful night, followed by a woman crying out. Now on top of another building, he ran over towards where he heard the shot and the cry, to look down upon an alley. There he saw a woman knelt down before a man who held a gun to the woman's head, next to them, a trash bin and next to the trash bin laid a man, who, from the looks of it, had been shot in the head.

Tears ran down the hysterical woman's face and she looked down at the man, then back to the one holding the gun. She raised her hands before then man, as if she were in prayer.

"Please! I don't know anything, I swear!" She choked out.

Immediately Robin jumped from his perch, right on top of the man that had held the gun. The two crashed onto the dirty, wet ground of the ally and began a quick struggle over the gun as Robin elbowed the man in the face forcing him to let go of the weapon, before hitting him once again in the head with the butt of the metal object. He slid the gun across the ground of the alley, getting it away from both himself and the man now laying unconscious on the ground.

Robin got up, turning to look at the lady. "You alright ma'am..." His question was cut of by a sound at the other end of the alley.

"Not too smart birdie! Just stay back!" another, smaller, nervous looking man said as he came out of the shadows, holding the very gun Robin had thrown in his direction.

Shit! Where did he come from?

Robin then noticed what he had the gun aimed at. In front of him, he held onto a girl, no older than six with tears streaming down her face, his left hand held tightly over her mouth, keeping her quiet.

Shit!

"Mary!"

Before Robin could blink, the lady that was standing next to him was gone, taking off towards the man and child, another yell, another shot, a cry and the shocked expression of man holding the gun, which suddenly fell the the floor. The man looked to the lady, who now laid by the man next to the trash can as a second pool of blood quickly grew and then back to Robin, letting go of the little girl. He put his hands up in defense as he slowly began to back away, fearing the teen in front of him and shocked by his own actions.

"I...I...I didn't mean to! I swear it! She just started running at me and..." and the man took off down the alley, desperate for an escape.

Quickly, Robin pulled out his bo staff, throwing it with skilled precision at the man, effectively hitting him in the head and knocking him unconscious. He turned back to where the girl was now kneeling in blood, crying and trying to wake her parents, who were lifeless on the ground.

Sirens could be heard in the distance. Someone must have heard the gunshots and called the cops. By the sound of them, they were close and it would only take them a matter of minutes to get here.

Still shocked at what had unfolded, Robin walked over to the child, picking her up and taking her out of the alley and away from the gruesome scene. The separation made her cry out louder and struggle against him in hopes of returning to her murdered family. Once out of the alley, he leaned against the wall, with the girl in his arms, sliding down to a sitting position, not letting her go. He let her sit and cry in his arms until the cops arrived and took her from him.

"Are you alright son?" Robin looked up to see an elder police officer, probably one of the higher ranking officers of the bunch, kneeling next to him. The man's hair was gray, as was his mustache and he had kind eyes. Actually, he reminded Robin a lot of Commissioner Gordon back in Gotham.

"Y..yea..." he answered, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I tried to stop them...I don't even know...It happened so fast..."

"It's fine...you did what you could," the officer said, cutting him off and resting a hand on his shoulder. "My name is Officer Perry. Just tell me what happened"

Robin related the events that had occurred, from the time he heard the gunshot to the point when they arrived, then headed to his bike and back toward the Tower.

Quietly, Robin made his way back his room, where he shut himself inside, back against the door. He slid down it, just as he had in front of the ally with the little girl, only this time bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs.

He thought back to the little girl and the difficulties that faced her. He knew better than anyone the heartache, the pain and the anger that came a long with losing your parents, especially in such a violent way as you stand by helpless. It's not something that you forget and its not a pain that gets easier, rather you just succumb to it and start to become numb.

He never did figure out what the men were after or what part the now deceased woman and man played in it. He didn't want to know. He didn't care. It no longer mattered why the men from the ally were after them and it wouldn't change anything now. What was done, was done and you couldn't undo it. That was a lesson he had to learn the hard way. Although he had seen his fair share of horror and tragedy throughout his short life, these situations never did come any easier and it never ceased to amaze him of the horrors that people were capable of.

Robin could smell the blood that was soaked into his clothes. The smell and thought made his stomach churn as he tried to shake the thoughts and memories from his head, trying to will the nausea away, but to no avail. He shot up he darted into his bathroom, barely making it to the toilet and throwing up the pizza he had eaten earlier in the evening.

Shaking, he stood up, stripping the clothing from his body, seemingly not being able to rid himself of them quick enough. He tossed them into the trash, not even wanting to look at the blood soaked garments. Turning on the hot water as high as he could stand he stepped into the shower and began to scrub away the blood on his skin.

Twenty minutes later Robin emerged from his bathroom, skin red from the heat and over scrubbing. Still wearing his mask, he was now dressed in a pair of black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. He made his way to the bed and laid down, pulling the covers over his head.

Ever since the murder of his own parents and since his initiation as Robin, he had hoped and tried to keep the same thing from happening to anyone else and sometimes, it made him do brash things and blurred that fine line between right and wrong. It was a pain he wouldn't wish on anyone and so he swore to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. And he had failed...miserably. Now, there were two people dead and an orphaned little girl who would have to live with the horror of seeing her parents murdered and the life that was to follow.

Not only had he fail, but he had assisted. That was the worst part. He felt that he had practically handed the gun to the other killer. The act of tossing the gun to where the other man was hiding was particularly sticking out in his mind. How could he have missed the man hiding at the end of the alley, or the little girl for that matter? He admitted to himself that there was nothing he could have done for the dad, but the mom...how could he have been so stupid! That was his fault. His mistake. He allowed her mom to be taken away. He took her mother away from her. Or at least that was how he had seen it. He admitted that he rushed into the situation and that he still had a lot to learn about the hero life he had planned to lead.

He felt nauseous all over again as he shook the thoughts from his head and wondered what he would tell the titans in the morning...if he would tell the titans.

Maybe this is something I should keep to myself.

He knew that he was already on the verge of losing the last ounce of trust that the team had left in him. They had given him a little of it back by letting him go out on patrol without them. Even that he considered generous of them. But he couldn't tell them about tonight. If there was one thing he was more afraid of than losing his friends and the trust placed in him, was the look of disappointment he could imagine on their faces. It mirrored the disappointed me had in himself and he couldn't bare the thought of letting his friends down...again.

Robin began to think of his own parents, allowing the familiar pain of loss to well up in his chest as he began to cry...or had he already been crying? He imagined the little girl...Mary was it? He could picture her lying down, trying to go to sleep with the same stream of tears running down her face.

Before Robin knew it, he had cried himself to sleep. Not that his dreams were much of an escape from reality, as they were always filled with dark memories and mistakes from the past...

They never let him forget anything...

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