Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Batman. Done for a Facebook group.
Summary: A girl from Robin's tragic past continues to haunt him.
Calling for Help from Beyond
"Robin!" a girl's voice called. "Run!" Robin, sitting on the couch while trying to watch the news of something that occurred in Gotham. His head was slouched down, fighting the voice echoing in his head.
"Annie..." he murmured under his breath. The anchorwoman had an update on a situation.
"The hostage situation in the suburbs of Gotham has ended with the arrest of the suspect and the safe recovery of the children held by what authorities believe is a war veteran suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder off his medication," she reported. It was good news for the family or families of those children. "Police aren't releasing the names until their investigation is complete." Robin would smile but the echos of that girl haunted her. The voice was familiar.
"Robin!" she continued to cry out. Robin wasn't looking for the sound. He knew who Annie was.
"Get out..." he angrily ordered. The echos wouldn't relieve him.
"Run!" The voices continued to irritate Robin as he collapsed from the couch clutching his head.
"Get out! Get out of my head!" His screaming alerted the attention of Starfire. She flew to Robin's side in fear.
"Robin!" she cried out as she rested her hands on his flailing shoulders. "Robin, I am here! Calm yourself down!" Robin kept swinging around, fighting the voice bothering him.
"Robin, run!" she "teared" in pain.
"Stop it!" he roared out. "Stop calling me!" Starfire pulled Robin to her breasts, trying to comfort the distraught leader in a hug.
"Robin!" she shouted. The Tamaranean held Robin's head tightly. After a minute of struggle, the Boy Wonder relented to the resistance.
"Star?" He sounded back to normal. Starfire released her grasp little by little, unsure if the masked one would have another outburst.
"Are you...back to normal?" A moan from Robin was a good sign.
"No..." Well, that was a let down. Starfire didn't think Robin was joking. Whatever got him in that psychotic state might still be doing him.
"Let me know when you are." Robin labored his breathing down to normal levels. Before long, the two stepped out on the roof of Titans Tower. The voice still remained haunting. "Who was calling you before?" Robin mumbled at the situation about what was calling him out.
"It was back in Gotham. I was still under the tutoring of Batman when I was out and about. On a solo trip, I found and protected a girl who had no idea about her past. The only thing she knew at the time was her name: Annie. At least that's what I called her." Starfire wondered what could have occurred with this Annie that had affected Robin. "We became immediately close. She'd rely on me when she was in trouble. Ultimately, we started getting chased by gangs and a villain Batman knew well: Clayface. It soon became apparent that Clayface created Annie when I saw clay enter her. Clayface re-energized himself and absorbed her when I was in trouble. She reached out for me but I...I watched helplessly and my anger overtook me. Gordon wanted to know what charges to file Clayface under when I suggested murder."
This tale had the alien friend thinking back to a time which she sneaked in Robin's room looking for him. "That one paper I saw... the headline: 'Lack of Body=Dropped Murder Charges.' Is that what you are talking about?" Robin was surprised to learn that Starfire caught on to the information being discussed.
"How did you know about it?" The answer would leave Robin wondering how he did it on himself.
"I was looking for you in your room when you took the form of X. I saw all those articles from Gotham." A moment where Robin tried to fool Slade and the rest of the Titans. Even Robin had a moment to regret that ploy to understand his foe.
"I guess I should apologize for that stunt." He refocused on his tale. "Batman told me that not everything has a happy ending. Beast Boy learned that the hard way when Terra forced herself to turn to stone in front of him." Never an easy task to contemplate.
"No ending is happy. It's always sad what happens when it ends. One day, we'll leave one way or another. It hurts more when it's someone you care for...like I care for you since you helped me from time to time." The Boy Wonder turned to the girl from her confession.
"Starfire..." The Tameranean pulled Robin in for another hug, this one more gentle than when he had gone under that mental breakdown.
"Don't forget that Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy are also here in case we have problems we can't deal with alone." The kind gesture eased Robin of whatever bothered him...for the most part.
"Thank you, Star." The redhead, orange-skinned girl had an idea.
"What you need to do is forgive yourself and look forward to what's ahead. Do not consider Annie's loss as a vain. To forgive her, forgive you." Touching words. Suddenly, sirens from fire trucks. An emergency.
"Sounds like trouble!" Starfire sensed a problem.
"The rest are out of the city!" No Raven, no Cyborg, no Beast Boy...
"We can do this!" Robin retreated to the garage for his motorcycle while Starfire flew ahead to the scene. Police in full body armor held a young man in ragged clothes down on the street as an apartment complex was engulfed in a huge blaze. For a guy being held down by authorities, he's enjoying himself.
"That's right, baby!" he cackled. "Burn!"
"Shut up!" one guy scolded as he shoved his face to the concrete. Robin and Starfire arrived at the scene where a black woman exited in frantic fear. Robin discarded his helmet and ran to the woman in a panic.
"Are you alright?" he asked. She looked okay on the physical front...
"My girl!" she freaked. "She's in her room still! The fire came up so fast-" Robin heard enough and used his grappling hook to reach in the inferno. Starfire trailed behind him as she fired an energy ball, destroying the window. Inside, they found the terrified child in her pajamas.
"Come on over! Your mom's waiting on the street!" The child hustled over to Starfire and Robin who carried her out the window and down the street, and not a moment later as a blast scorched the room. Outside, the girl and her mother were reunited while the arsonist was tossed, literally on his shoulder, in a truck to be escorted from the scene.
"A white supremacist wannabe," one armored officer identified the firebug to his crew. "It's sad that there are people who would do this in the form of racism." Robin and Starfire were on the sidelines while the Boy Wonder peered down.
"Of all the people I've rescued, I can't forget or forgive Annie's loss." Starfire still couldn't believe he was still thinking about her after all that in the split second.
"You need to stop listening to the echoes of your past," she scorned. "If you cannot hear me, I worry that you will lose someone else from that lost voice." Robin nodded, trying to straighten his head out.
"Sorry. I need to focus...for the team if necessary." Starfire placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort. It had been a trying night for Robin. If anything, forgiving himself and forgetting Annie was a long and arduous task. He needed to look to the future, no longer the past that hindered him. "Echoes of the past..."