Chapter 1:
Robin's POV
It all started with one simple mission; I made a slight mistake and the bad guys got away. It wasn't really my fault, at least. I'd only had three hours of sleep in the past week! That didn't stop me from feeling incredibly guilty though, and I still blamed myself for our failure.
Wally seemed to agree.
"What is wrong with you?!" Wally had screamed, putting me in the spotlight. I couldn't answer.
"I…I…" I stumbled. "I'm sorry…"
"Wally, don't blame this on Robin," Kaldur said in my defence, and I internally thanked him, but it still had technically been my fault...
"No don't," I say. "It was my fault. I wanted to push myself by patrolling more with Batman." I rub my arm, feeling ant-sized compared to my team.
"Don't worry Robin," said Megan, flying next to me and putting a hand on my shoulder. "We will catch them another day." I nudged her hand off my shoulder.
"You don't understand," I muttered under my breath when I probably should have just kept silent.
"That's the thing!" Wally shouted in anger. "There's so much we don't know about you, and you know loads about us, Rob! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you and your secrets!"
Everyone gasps except me. I knew this day would come. I knew Wally would turn, someday. Doesn't he know that I'm sick of my secrets, too? So many times I've wished I could tell him everything, but I haven't. Because I don't want any of them to be in danger because of me; because of my idiocy to secrecy.
"Wally… you don't mean that, do you?" Artemis says.
"Sure as hell I do!" He says back, his hands clenched into fists.
"Wally, how long have you known Robin?" Askes Connor. Why are they defending me? If Wally doesn't want to be my friend then let him. His loss, right? Besides, I've known all along that a friendship couldn't be sustained by one-sided trust. Who was I to know all his secrets, only for him not to know mine? We'd never really been that close of friends anyways; because he could never really know the real me.
"Guys stop defending me; if he means it then that's fine with me. We can always talk about it later. Can we just get back to the cave? It's been a long night." I walk to the bio ship and everyone follows me silently. Wally trails behind, muttering under his breath.
The ride was excruciatingly painful. I could feel the team staring at me the whole way back to Happy Harbour. I could have screamed! But I didn't. I kept my cool.
As I looked out the window I could see the reflection of the team staring at each other in odd patterns, as if they were having a conversation. Of course they were! Megan is freaking telepathic for goodness sake! I paid more attention and I could see them make gestures with their eyes, trying not to give away that they were talking, but the way they would look at me once in a while suggested that they were definitely talking about me.
Suddenly Wally raised his arms above his head and sighed. "Fine!" He said before getting up and walking my way. I pretended not to notice. "Robin?" He asked as he put his hand on my shoulder, and I flinched. Everyone must have saw that. I could have jumped a mile high and they wouldn't have noticed it any less!
Wally pretended he hadn't noticed. "I'm sorry for what I said." I could hear it in his tone; he didn't mean it.
"Its fine," I say honestly. "We all know it's what you really think."
"I only think it because of all the lies and secrecy!" He replies.
"Lies?!" I ask, raising from my seat. "What lies?!"
"About who you are!" He shouts back.
"They're called secrets, Dumb-Ass!"
"Secrets, lies; same difference!" He shouts back, now raging in my personal space. I refuse to lean back at all.
"Yes, but only in certain situations, depending on the way and purpose in which you tell them," I say calmly.
"It's all still lying!" He shouts. I can feel his breath on my face.
"Yeah, and do you know why I keep my identity hidden?" Raising my voice just barely over normal.
"Because of Batman; we know!"
"No, you idiot!" I shout, then regain myself. "It's because of how ashamed of my past I am. How defenceless I used to be. What I've lost; what I've felt." My voice breaks at the end of it. Everyone is in stunned silence.
"We're coming into Happy Harbour," says Megan. Her voice is close to a whisper.
"Good; I can't wait to get away from some certain loser," says Wally as he walks back to his seat. Tears start to form in the corners of my eyes, but I blink them away.
My best friend in the whole world turns on me because I am trying to protect him… Doesn't he understand? Batman is one of the big heroes in the league, and any villain would be prepared to kill in order to get our identities! The same doesn't happen for Leaguers like Flash, or Superman, who don't live in cities with complete psychopaths. Wally just doesn't know what it's like…
I sit back down quietly until, finally, the Bio-Ship comes into land in the cave's hanger. The door opens and I stand to go out. I take a step forward and am suddenly knocked back into my seat by Wally storming past me.
"Wally!" I hear Artemis shout after him. She walks up to me. "What's with him today?" She asks as she holds out a hand to help me back up. I take her hand and she pulls me up. "He'll come to his senses; don't worry," she says with a small smile. I don't return it.
"I don't care even if he does. Maybe I'm sick of him, too!" I say, then I walk out of the bio ship and straight into Batman's view. He really doesn't look happy. Great…
"Team debriefing in five minutes," he says before turning and heading to the missions room. All I could think was 'Shit, shit, shit! I'm so screwed!'
I retreat to my room and change into something more comfortable. My black skinny jeans, my black top, red hoodie, black jacket, and my black converse. I slip off my mask and head to the bathroom. I turn the tap on and let the cold water flow for a moment. I cup my hands under the water and splash some on my face. I put my hands on either side of the sink and look in the mirror. I don't think I recognise myself anymore. I hear shouting in the room next to me. Wally's room. It sounded like Artemis and Kaldur talking whilst Wally was shouting. I decided put my sun glasses on and go out into the corridor.
To my surprise, Batman was walking down the corridor and you could hear Wally's shouts as clear as day. Batman stopped once he saw me. He was going to say something, but I suppose he decided against it when he heard Wally…
"I hate him!"
I was going to say something, but he raised a hand that told me to be quiet. He walked towards Wally's door and somehow, out of instinct I followed. You could hear Kaldur's calm voice and Artemis's stern one.
"How can you say all that?" Asks Artemis.
"Because he's a twat!" Wally shouts.
"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Kaldur asks.
"No!" Wally shouts. "He lies all the time!"
"Is this about his identity?" Kaldur asks calmly.
"It's everything about him!" Wally shouts back.
"I think we need to go back to the mission's room," says Artemis.
"Yes, I agree with Artemis. We need to debrief the mission."
"Ha! And I bet bats won't care about Robin screwing up!" He shouts as Artemis opens his door and looks out at us. "Why wouldn't he? He's Batman's brat. Wish he would just leave! Permanently!" Of course, what I heard was more along the lines of "I wish he would just die." I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought as much, and it was likely what he meant…
I wasn't sticking around for this. I turned on my heel and went back to my room. I slammed the door shut behind me. Does he really think that? That just because I'm Batman's protégé I get let off lightly? I don't; he may not punish me when I'm in the mountain, but he does when we get back to the Bat-Cave. He pulls me from patrol, pushes me harder in training... It's for my own good. I know what punishments I'll face, but they don't know.
I heard people walk past my door, heading to the missions room to get debriefed. I punch the wall next to me and create a small dent. I feel blood run down my fingers. 'Shit.' I walk to my bathroom and run my hand under the sink. The blood immediately stains the water red as I let it run over my knuckles. When the blood stops running I turn the tap off and dry my hands. I exit my room and head to the mission's room.
When I get there, there is only Batman and Kaldur talking quietly. About the mission or about me? Kaldur nods and walks away from Batman, towards the kitchen. Batman looks up at me.
"Let's go home," he said. I walked up to him and he put a hand on my shoulder. We walked towards the zeta beam. He hadn't punished me yet, but I knew he would soon.