Black Swan

by Norah Strike

A new member joined the Young Justice team two years later, she died. Read how she was very close to Robin, as it counts down to the night of her murder. Original character included. Please leave reviews.

Note: I don't own any of the Young Justice characters. However, Black Swan (Emily-Grace Hendrix/ Myla) is my original character

Two years ago . . . Mount Justice June 2011

The team was called into the Mount Justice by Batman and the rest of the Justice League. Aqualad, Robin, SuperBoy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, and Artemis filed in, wondering what they were called in there for. Batman came up.

"You have been called up here for a special reason," said Batman. Batman was always too serious for his own good.

"Oh. So what reason is that?" said Kid Flash sarcastedly.

"A new team member is being assigned to your team," said Batman.

"Again?" asked Robin.

"Yes. If anyone has a problem with that they will take it up with me later," growled Batman.

Green Arrow and Black Canary came up.

"Aqualad, Robin, SuperBoy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis," said Green Arrow. "Meet Black Swan."

Black Swan was a girl with short black hair and deep blue eyes. She was slightly taller than Robin. She wore a mask with black swan feathers. The mask covered the majority of her mouth, eyes, and forehead. Her cape was made out of black and white feathers. She wore black leather boots that came up above her knees. Black Swan was wearing a jump suit that was again, black and made out of shiny leather material. On her utility belt she had a long sword and twin daggers that were about six inches long and her knives were encased with gold and more black.

Kid Flash looked at Black Swan and then at Batman.

"Another niece?" joked Kid Flash.

"No," growled Batman.

"Hi," said Black Swan. "I'm Black Swan"

"Hi!" exclaimed Miss Martian, a.k.a. Meghan.

The rest of the team welcomed Black Swan. SuperBoy just did a grunty hello before walking off.

"So," said Miss Martian. It was the end of introductions and Black Swan was getting to know her teammates better.

"My name is Meghan."

Meghan pointed to Aqualad.

"Kulder," said Aqualad.

Kid Flash.

"Wally," said Kid Flash.

SuperBoy.

"Conner," said SuperBoy.

Artemis.

"It's just Artemis," she said, leaning against the kitchen counter casually.

Robin.

"Call me Robin. I'm not allowed to reveal my identity," said Robin, who was wearing a pair of epic shades that hid his eyes from view.

"My name is Emily-Grace Hendrix. Or Myla for short," said Black Swan.

The team was in a training exercise overseen by Black Canary. She had the team put into pairs of two for sparing practice. Miss Martian was with Kid Flash. Artemis with Aqualad. SuperBoy was in Miss Martian and Kid Flash's group too, taking turns sparing against each other. And Robin was with Black Swan. Robin was doing hand-to-hand combat while Black Swan was using her twin daggers. Robin was getting the upper hand of Black Swan.

Even after sparing was over Robin never quit, and neither did Black Swan. Because Black Swan never gave up without a good fight. Just then Robin threw the daggers out of Black Swan's hands. Now, they were even. Robin gave quick punches to Black Swan, who dodged. Robin was quick, but Black Swan was quicker and more agile. Robin attempted a kick but Black Swan cart wheeled to safety. The rest of the team was watching them. It seemed to Robin that Black Swan never did any offensive moves, just defensive. After a whole hour of sparing. Red Tornado showed up with Batman and Black Canary tagging behind. The lights flickered on. But Robin and Black Swan was still sparing.

"Training is over for today," announced Black Canary.

The duo didn't stop. Batman had enough.

"ENOUGH!" bellowed Batman.

Robin obediently stopped at once. But Black Swan took the moment to kick down Robin to the ground.

"I SAID ENOUGH!" yelled Batman. He grabbed Black Swan by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall. "WHEN I SAY 'ENOUGH' I MEAN ENOUGH!"

"Yes sir," squeaked Black Swan, terror in her eyes. Batman released Black Swan. She trembled slightly from the shock that Batman actually did that to her. Batman had some serious Anger Management problems.

"You're dismissed," said Batman, his eyes narrowing at Black Swan. "All of you!" growled Batman. "Wait Robin. I want to speak to you."

One year ago . . . June 2012 New York City

The team was on a mission. It was a simple surveillance mission at a fancy dinner party. That meant disguises. Fancy disguises. Aqualad, SuperBoy, Kid Flash, and Robin were forced into black tuxedos. Miss Martian was the only one excited to wear a dress. Black Swan wasn't totally thrilled, but she was the type of person that went with the flow of things. Artemis didn't want to wear skirts in general, let alone a fancy dress. But Artemis just grinned and beared it. Miss Martian was wearing a deep red party dress. Artemis was wearing a dark forest green strapless dress. Black Swan was a wearing a black Monroe dress. The civilians started dancing when a jazz band started playing. Batman's orders were to be hidden in plain sight and more importantly, keep a low profile. And the most important of all was to be casual and act like a civilian. When the dancing began, Wally to Meghan's hand and dragged her to the dance floor. The poor guy had no clue that Meghan was dating Conner. Kulder looked at Artemis, she said,

"Why not?" and they paired together. Conner was sulking as usual in his own little corner by himself drinking punch.

That left Robin and Myla.

Myla was a little nervous when Robin agreed to dance with her. It was part of the mission right? Robin took Myla's hand along with her waist. While Myla took Robin's hand and shoulder. A year had past since Emily-Grace Hendrix had joined the team. After five minutes of dancing to jazz Myla said,

"I can't figure you out."

Robin gave Myla a pure mischievous look.

"Why?" asked Robin.

"You're so . . . mysterious," said Myla. She added, "Not in a bad way though."

"Batman says I have to keep my identity secret," said Robin.

Myla shrugged. "Fair enough," said Myla. "I'll tell you about my life then, apart from being on the team. Let's see . . . my name real name is Emily-Grace. I prefer Myla. Or You-Know-Who. I live with my younger sister Vivianne Hendrix and my dad Henry. My mom disappeared about ten years ago. I'm fifteen years old. I was born in Arkansas-"

Robin cut off Myla. He smirked at her.

"If you're from Arkansas, where's your accent?"

"I used to have one but I grew out of it when I moved to New York when I was eight."

"So when did you get here?" asked Robin.

"About the same time I joined the team. My dad found a better job here than in New York City. Do you want to hear my life story or not?" snapped Myla.

"Sure. Do you see my excited face?" (Robin was being very sarcastic, he failed though) Myla continued,

"I have two pets. A cat named Princess and hamster named Captain. Besides fencing and gymnastics, I enjoy reading John Grisham-"Robin cut off of Myla. Again.

"You enjoy Grisham?"

"Yeah I find his books interesting. Anyways, my favorite poet is Langston Hughs. Watching YouTube and painting is my two favorite pastimes-"Robin cut her off again.

"You call watching YouTube a pastime?" he scoffed.

"You have a problem with that?" challenged Myla.

"No,"

"Good. As I was saying, anything else you want to know? Most of my life is an open book,"

"Nice," said Robin. "I live with Batman and that's all you need to know."

Myla went silent. Then,

"Do you honestly know how corny that sounded?"

"I do now"

Robin and Myla danced some more. Then a slow jazz song rose up. And Robin felt himself become lost in Myla's eyes. Myla's heart began to race. Robin was getting closer and closer. "What was your mom's name?" whispered Robin.

"Anna-Marie," whispered back Myla. "Why are we whispering?"

"No idea," replied Robin.

Closer . . . closer . . . almost there . . .

BANG!

An attack rose up.

"Duty calls," said Robin. The moment was lost. And Robin had turned into the too-serious-for-his-own-good-Robin.

Damn, thought Black Swan.

Last Christmas Eve December 24, 2012 Gotham City

"Hey! Hey Robin! Wait up!" called Black Swan.

Robin turned around and saw her running to catch up.

"What?" asked Robin.

"What no 'hello'?" said Black Swan sarcastically.

"More like 'good-bye'" said Robin.

They started walking together to the weird beam thing.

"Where are you going?" asked Black Swan.

"Home,"

"Which is . . . "

"Batman's place"

Black Swan pulled Robin back unexpectedly. He stumbled.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" asked Black Swan.

"Nothing like every year"

"Too bad. This year you're spending Christmas at my place"

"But-"

"No 'buts'. Nobody spends Christmas alone under the age of eighteen when I'm around"

Robin resisted her tugging at his hand. Too late. Black Swan had dragged herself and Robin through the weird beamy teleporter thing. Myla and Robin had rematerialized in a junky telephone booth in Gothem City. Robin threw the door open.

"Why did you drag me here?" yelled Robin.

Myla walked out the booth.

"I already told you you're going to my place for Christmas" said Myla.

"No. I'm not. Bye," Robin started walking down the alley. Myla took off after him. She pulled her stunner from her utility belt. She held it up to Robin's face. "What are you doing Emily-Grace?" yelled Robin, his voice sounding irritated and angry.

"You got two options, Robin. First option: we walk to my apartment in a Merry Christmas World! mood. Or I can stun you right now and drag your carcass to my place and explain to my dad why you're knocked out."

Robin stared at Myla in disbelief.

"You wouldn't"

"The hell I would. You don't know what I'm capable of."

"You're crazy"

"Thank you"

Myla checked her watch. "We have to go now. I don't want my dad to think that I won't show up."

Myla started walking out the alley. Robin just stood still. Myla turned around. "Are you coming? Or am I gonna have to stun your ass?"

"I'm coming"

Robin and Myla had been walking in silence for about twenty minutes. They were at the West side of the city. Where the less than middle class lived. They passed two junky apartment complexes.

"Mine's the third," said Myla, breaking the silence.

She began walking up a flight of stairs and entered the second door to the right. Myla opened the door to Robin, which lead to a small minty painted creepy hallway with dim lighting. To the left there was a staircase that led up to the higher apartments. Myla began walking up those stairs and stopped at the second level. "My place is on this level," she explained to Robin. She passed the apartments 3A, 3B, and 3C, her place was 3D. Myla pointed to door number. "Kind of ironic huh?" she pointed to the 3D sign. She knocked on the door. "Dad, it's Myla open up," she called through the door.

"What happened to your key?" came a gruff voice from the other side of the door.

"I left it . . . you-know-where," explained Myla.

"Again?"

"Yeah"

"What's the magical password?"

Myla slammed the door.

"Seriously Dad?"

"Yeah"

"The password is 'Annie'"

Robin heared the clinks of deadbolts and chains being unlocked. The door opened. A six foot man with graying brown hair stood in the doorway. He was also wearing a Santa hat.

"Merry Christmas Emily-Grace," said the man. He and Myla hugged.

"Merry Christmas Dad," said Myla.

"Come in hon. Vivianne's been waiting for you to come home all evening. Where have you been?" asked Myla's dad.

"I had some stuff to take care of," explained Myla. She remembered Robin was standing there in her living room. "Dad this is my friend Robin. He didn't have any place to spend Christmas so I invited him here. Robin, this is my dad Henry."

"Hi," said Robin, feeling awkward.

Henry didn't say anything. He was eyeing Myla's Black Swan uniform. "Better not let Vivianne see you in that," said Henry.

"Right," replied Myla. "I'm going to change. Robin I have

something that you can wear"

Five minutes later Myla and Robin had changed out of their superhero uniforms. Myla was wearing a dark green sweater that had a giant Christmas tree on stitched in to it. And Robin was wearing a red sweater with a gingerbread man sewed on. Myla had stored her and Robin's clothes in one of her bedazzled bags she had made. Henry was in the kitchen making hot cocoa while Myla and Robin were sitting on the couch together. They were watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas when Myla's younger sister Vivianne came home. Vivianne squealed with happiness when she saw that her sister was home for Christmas. Myla hugged her sister. Vivianne kept saying 'Merry Christmas' over and over again. But Myla didn't seem to mind. Myla introduced Robin to Vivianne. After introductions, Henry came into the living room where he gave everybody a cup of cocoa. Vivianne downed hers immediately.

"Hey Myla do you want to bake that chocolate cake that we were planning to make?" asked Vivianne.

Myla set her cocoa on a nearby TV stand.

"Sure," she said. "Hey Robin do you want to help?"

"Okay," agreed Robin.

Vivianne, Myla, and Robin walked into the Hendrix's kitchen. Vivianne began taking a mixing bowl from a cupboard. She also took a box of cake mix out of a paper sack. Myla went into a closet and got out three aprons. "What should I do?" asked Robin.

"First off," began Vivianne. "Put on an apron. Two, you can grab some scissors to open the plastic bag that holds the mix."

Robin went off to do those things. Myla set the mixing bowl on the counter and began to get the other ingredients out of the refrigerator. She set them on the kitchen counter. Vivianne took the cake mix from Robin. She dumped the bag into the mixing bowl. Then Myla set the rest of the ingredients into the mixing bowl. Robin mixed the ingredients together. Vivianne took the bowl once Robin was done mixing. She dumped the contents into a cake pan. The oven was already ready. Vivianne put the cake into the oven. She took a timer and wound it up to ring after twenty-five minutes.

"What should we do now?" Myla asked Vivianne.

"We could watch The Santa Clause. You know that movie with Tim Allen in it," replied Vivianne.

"I've never seen that movie," said Robin.

Vivianne stared at Robin.

"YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN THE SANTA CLAUSE MOVIE?" yelled out Vivianne.

"Uh . . . no," said Robin, feeling a little weirded out.

Vivianne grabbed Robin's hand.

"Come on we are watching that movie," said Vivianne.

Thirty minutes into the movie, Vivianne remembered that there was cake in the oven. She took it out to cool and spread chocolate icing all over it. After the movie was over, Vivianne was pesturing Robin for feedback about what he thought of the movie. Myla turned the TV on to watch the News. The time was 11:46 P.M. Vivianne was serving the cake when Robin said he wanted to talk to Myla. Myla took him to her room to talk.

"Why am I here?" he asked.

Myla scowled at him.

"What is wrong with you?" she yelled. "Why can't you have any fun for once in your life?"

"There is nothing wrong with me," Robin defended himself.

"Well . . . what? You said you wanted to talk to me. Now spit it out," said Myla.

"I just wanted to tell you that I have to get going. Batman has no clue where I am and if I don't get back soon he's going be freaked out at me," said Robin.

"There's always an excuse," said Myla. "If you want to go just go."

"Fine," said Robin. "Where's my stuff?"

"In my closet," said Myla.

Myla walked to her closet. But she forgot one thing: Vivianne had decorated the apartment the day before. A small branch of mistletoe was hanging on the edge of her closet door. She pretended to not see it. She bent down and took Robin's clothes off the floor. She handed them to Robin who was underneath the mistletoe too.

"Here," she said.

Robin took them.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Don't look up," warned Myla.

Robin looked up. His face darkened. Myla glared at him.

"I told you not to look," she said.

Suddenly she had the memory of that mission where Robin had almost kissed her. She had that same feeling right now.

"Merry Christmas," said Robin. He getting closer and was invading Myla's personal bubble. His face was right into hers when Vivianne intruded. She stared at them. After a moment she said,

"Well this is awkward." Vivianne walked out.

Instead of kissing her on the lips, he kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas, Emily-Grace," he said before walking out.

The moment was lost. Again. And for the last time.

Present June 28, 2013 Orlando, Florida 23:22

The team was on another undercover mission. Something to do with the Injustice League. In Florida. Near the beach and the calm ocean waves and white sandy beaches. Perfect. But it wasn't vacation. The team was staying in a two-room beach house. There were three bunkbeds and one bed that wasn't attached to another one. Black Swan was on a top bunk. Robin was right across from Black Swan on the single bed. Kid Flash and Miss Martian were on top bunks too. While Artemis, SuperBoy, and Aqualad were on the bottom bunks. They had spent the day on the beach, swimming and playing volleyball.

"That was so much fun!" said Miss Martian. She was always too happy for particular reason most of the time. "I can't wait until tomorrow!"

"You know we are on a mission, Miss Martian," pointed out Aqualad.

"I know," she said.

Miss Martian was looking at Black Swan's paintings.

"Wow Myla, these are great!"

"Thanks Meghan," said Black Swan.

Black Swan had spent her day painting the beach, the ocean waves, and their beachouse.

Robin took a look at them.

"These are good," he said. Which made Black Swan blush slightly.

"Thanks," she said. "What should we do tomorrow?"

"I say more volleyball," said Kid Flash. He was eating a banana.

"Maybe we should patrol the streets," suggested Aqualad.

"I'm with Aqualad," said Robin.

"What do you want to do SuperBoy?" asked Miss Martian.

"I don't care," grumbled SuperBoy.

Artemis had just gotten out of the shower and her long, blond hair was still wet. She had wrapped it up with a towel and called it good.

"What are you doing Swan?" asked Artemis.

"I'm writing a postcard to my sister," explained Black Swan.

"That's nice. You know I had a sister once a long time ago," said Artemis.

"You did?"

"Yeah. But that was a long time ago."

Black Swan had finished her postcard to Vivianne and climbed up to her bunk. She lay on her stomache, gazing at Robin, the two nights when he almost kissed her. She sat up to fix her pillow when she felt something struck her at the back of her neck. She barely had time to gasp as she fell back, head-first, onto the cement floor. Her eyes were closed. And she wasn't breathing. Robin sat up immediately.

"Myla!" yelled Robin.

He ran to Myla's side. He put his ear to her chest.

"She's not breathing!"

Robin was frantic. He put his hands down and started doing CPR.

"One, two, three, four, five," said Robin.

No breathing.

"One, two, three, four, five"

No breathing.

"Call 9-1-1" yelled Robin.

Artemis raced to the phone and started talking to the 9-1-1 people.

"One, two, three, four, five,"

No breathing. No pulse.

"Come on Myla. Don't leave . . ." He almost said "me".

"Maybe mouth to mouth," suggested Wally.

Robin placed his mouth onto Myla's. He puffed in air and held her nose. Robin checked Myla's chest again.

Still nothing.

Robin kissed her again.

Nothing.

No pulse.

Five mintues later after Artemis had made the call, two EMTs showed up. They pushed Robin aside. So instead he grabbed her hand.

"Come on Myla," he whispered.

The EMTs hooked her up to a machine. Myla was a straight line. One EMT told Robin to stand back. He did as he was told. The other EMT charged up the paddles.

"Charging," said the EMT. "Clear"

Myla's limp body jumped up. Straight line. No pulse. In the background, Robin could hear Meghan sobbing. He turned around to see Artemis holding Meghan. Robin turned back to Myla.

"Clear." Nothing. The EMT charged up the paddles five more times. No pulse. Myla was a straight line that could not be fixed. One of the EMT guys shut off the machine. He turned to Robin with a blank and withdrawn expression on his face.

"She's gone," said the EMT.

Robin felt a tear streaming down his cheek.

"No!" yelled Robin, refusing to believe the cold hard fact. "She's not gone!"

"I'm sorry," said the EMT. "You should say your good-byes now. Take all the time you need."

Robin took Myla's hand and kissed it. He didn't care what the rest of the team would think. He didn't want to cover his feelings anymore. Just then Meghan came closer, she was sobbing really hard. She was so upset she couldn't say anything. She opened the door, walked out, and shut it again without saying a word. Artemis knelt next to Myla. She was crying too, but not as hard as Meghan.

"Good-bye Swan," Her voice trembled. "I'll see you around." And she too went outside.

Aqualad had a few tears too. He said something in Atlantean that sounded beautiful. He bowed with respect to Myla then joined the others. Kid Flash had a tear (surprisingly since he always seemed to be irritated whenever Myla was around) down his face. He shook his head side to side.

"Wow," he said, as if he couldn't believe Myla was gone. He walked out of the room. SuperBoy had no tears, and he didn't have anything to say. He had this soft look on his face, as if studying Myla's body. He stared and stared at her body, then he too left. When Robin was alone he took Myla's body and sat on his knees and cradled her. He touched her cheek which was soft and smooth to the touch. He buried his face into her hair. Her hair smelled like watercolor paint, the beach, and her spicy- smelling perfume. Robin kissed her head. Then he kissed her lips, which were still warm, but were getting colder with every second. He broke off and began to cry harder than he ever did in his life. He cried even more than when his family died. Robin didn't know how long he sat there, holding his Myla in his arms. The door opened and Robin's mentor, Batman showed up. He sat down next to Robin.

"Robin, you need to let Emily- Grace go," said Batman. Batman reached to pull Robin's grip of Myla. Robin pulled Myla closer.

"Don't touch her," snapped Robin.

"Robin let me see her neck."

Robin stared at Batman like he could not believe what he just heard. But he did as he was told and pulled Myla's hair back so Batman could see her neck. Batman reached out and pulled something out of her neck. He held up a metal chip-looking thing so Robin could see.

"What is that?" asked Robin.

"I expect it's a poison dart," explained Batman.

"Are you saying that Myla was murdered?"

"It is a possibility. She was most likely dead before she hit the floor."

Batman stood up and walked out. Leaving Robin alone with Myla. After a few minutes of spacing off. Robin picked up Myla. Batman had left the door open. Robin walked outside. His teammates was still outside the house as if waiting for him. He walked past them and they stared at him. He stared right back at them as though he was challenging them to say anything. They didn't. Robin dropped Myla's body off at the ambulance before disappearing in the heat of the night in the city.

Gotham City, July 1, 2013 01100

Emily-Grace's funeral was three days later. At 01100 Emily-Grace's body was viewed to the public until the memorial began at 01130. Robin stood by Myla. Or one could argue that he was standing beside her casket faithfully as though guarding her from some unseen evil. Myla was laid down in a cherry wood made coffin. She was wearing a long and light sparkly blue summer dress. She had cherry red lipstick and light sparkly pink eyeshadow. Her cheeks were pink from blush, attempting to hide the fact that her skin now looked like death, plain and simple. On her neck she wore a silver cross. On her wrist she wore a hand-made beaded bracelet. In the coffin there was a picture of Myla's parents. Another picture showed Myla with her younger sister Vivianne. Two pictures showed Myla's cat and hamster. Robin held Myla's Black Swan mask in his hand. He gently rubbed the feathers, feeling the softness of the feathers. He was reminded sharply of how Myla could easily turn from sweet as Hershey chocolate to snappish like ghost peppers. He placed Myla's mask beside her. Meghan came up behind Robin. She placed a hand at Robin's shoulder, gently squeezing it.

"It's time," she said, after a moment.

Robin knodded. He was worried that if he were to say something, that he would lose all self-control again. Two funeral house people closed Myla's coffin. The two people wheeled the coffin into the church. The profession was Vivianne, then Henry, Robin, Artemis, Meghan, Kulder, Wally, and Connor. Batman was there too, but as Bruce Wayne. The paparazzi was puzzled. What was Wayne doing at a schoolgirl's funeral? Superman was there as Clark Kent. The profession took their seats at the front two pews. The preacher said a few things about Emily-Grace's life. He talked about how she loved her family and friends. He even revealed Emily-Grace's secret identity as Black Swan. That last bit surprised Robin a lot. Then the preacher walked off to the side. A photo presentation came on. It was titled: "The Life of Emily-Grace". The song "Good Life" by OneRepublic came on. The fist picture was of Myla's parent's wedding photo. Then a baby Myla in her mother's arms. Myla petting a kitten named Princess. Myla's first steps. Myla's first bike with training wheels. Myla's first childhood friend, arms linked together, their faces with pure joy. Myla eating ice cream with her father. Myla in a hospital room sitting on a couch, holding her newborn sister Vivianne. Myla's first day of school. Myla's first gymnastics class. Myla's first day of training for fencing. Myla and Vivianne sitting on a porch step together, hands on their cheeks, elbows on their knees. Myla with chickenpox. All of Myla's sixteen birthdays and wild parties. Five of Myla's birthdays showed Myla and her mother, Anna-Marie. Myla with a blue ribbon for winning an art contest. Myla winning first place in fencing and gymnastics tournaments. Myla and her first boyfriend going on a date. Robin began to wonder who that guy was and if he knew that his ex-girlfriend was dead. Myla's first and last prom. All of Myla's school pictures from Preschool to Sophmore year. Myla as Black Swan with her teammates.

How did they get that picture? Thought Robin.

And many more pictures showing other important and happy moments in her life. When "Good Life" ended "How to Save a Life" by the Fray came on. When the presentation ended almost everybody in the church was crying. Robin felt a few tears slip down his face. But that was nothing compared to the tears he shed on the night when Myla died. The preacher told the mourners that Emily-Grace's casket was now going to the graveyard and he gave the people directions. Robin stood up and so did the rest of the remaining team. Vivianne Hendrix was sobbing harder than Meghan and Artemis put together. Myla's father Henry Hendrix was crying softly. He was walking out with Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. Kulder and Wally walked out side-by-side not speaking to one another. Connor was still sitting on the pew by himself. Robin stayed back too. It looked like Connor was staring off into space.

"Is that what's going to happen to me?" said Connor. His voice sounded distant and slightly . . . afraid?

"Eventually," said Robin. He put his hand on Connor's shoulder. "Come on."

Connor knodded and walked out with Robin.

The coffin was carried out by Robin, Kulder, Wally, Connor, Bruce, Clark, and Henry. They put Emily-Grace on a stand, then began lighting lavender scented and colored candles. Vivianne was standing next to Robin.

"Lavender," squeaked Vivianne. "Was her favorite color."

Vivianne sobbed harder, if that was possible.

They began lowering the coffin down into the ground. Vivianne had a rose in her hand. She tossed the rose into the ground along with her sister. She took a handful of soil and tossed into Emily-Grace's grave. Then Henry scooped up a handful of soil.

"I wish your mother was here," said Henry. "I don't think she even knows what happened to you."

Henry let go of his soil. Robin took some soil and kissed it, then he released the soil. He released Emily-Grace Hendrix.

"I love you," said Robin.

If only I had told you that sooner, he thought. If only.

The rest of Robin's teammates tossed soil. The funeral was over. One by one people started to go home. Everybody had left except for Vivianne and Robin. They stood alone together for hours. They didn't say anything. They just stood together. Each one lost in scattered thoughts and old memories. Before she left Vivianne said to Robin,

"You know she really did like you."

Robin didn't say anything. He already knew that. He had known that fact for a very long time. Robin didn't leave Myla all alone. Not for a long time. Vivianne had left when the sun set. Robin didn't leave until midnight when Batman finally came and got him.

Robin was in his room when Alfred came into Robin's room. Alfred asked Robin in his epicly-awesome Brittish accent,

"Does Young Master require anything?"

"No thanks Alfred," said Robin.

"Master Bruce is worried about you."

"He shouldn't be."

Alfred sighed. "You know life can be bloody hell. But you have to remember that life is beautiful too."

Robin continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Alfred?"

"Yes Master Dick?"

"Does the pain ever stop?"

"No. But each day the pain becomes more bearable."

After a minute of awkaward silence. Alfred turned to leave. Robin started to talk again.

"She had healing abilities," said Robin. "Yet Emily-Grace couldn't save herself in the . . . in the end."

The Batcave July 2, 2013 0230

Batman was alone in the Batcave. He was analyzing the poison dart that had killed Hendrix. His analysis of the dart was almost complete. When the results were ready, Batman printed them out. He ripped the paper off of the copier machine. His eyes scanned the results. The poison in the dart turned out to be a heavy sedative. If that was true then there was a slight chance that Emily-Grace Hendrix wasn't dead after all. If he was right, Hendrix's real body was kidnapped. Hendrix could be alive after all. Batman began to debate with himself on whether he should tell Robin this. After all Hendrix was a big distraction to Robin. Batman decided for the best on keeping this information secret. Or at least when the time was right and when his suspicions would be confirmed.

"Robin's not going to like this."

To be continued in the sequel . . .